NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) ā Now hereās something you might not quite believe about Victoria Beckham, glam Spice Girl turned high-profile fashion designer: At theater school, they purposely put her in the back row. Because she was too heavy.
āIt was really difficult,ā she says now of the memory from her youth, sipping a sparkling water in a Manhattan hotel in between work engagements. āWe were all judged on how we looked. I was young. I had bad skin, my weight was going up and down, I had really lank hair.ā
Beckham was also bullied in school and told she was a bad learner, revelations that come in a new documentary, āVictoria Beckham.ā The three-part Netflix series traces her career and especially her ascension in the fashion world ā building up to a grand Paris runway show at a palace in front of 600 people.
That 2024 show ā with a rainstorm threatening to scuttle the whole thing ā is presented as a career pinnacle for a designer who spent years proving herself alongside giants of the field, showing she wasnāt simply a celebrity slapping her name on a label. ( Vogueās Anna Wintour is among the fashion luminaries attesting to Beckhamās hard-won industry acceptance in the documentary).
Of course the show also features liberal doses of Beckhamās soccer legend husband David ā just as Victoria appeared in his own recent, popular Netflix documentary āBeckhamā (both were produced by David Beckhamās own Studio 99).
Some reviews have said Victoriaās documentary feels more guarded and less revelatory. In any case, Victoria Beckham says wanted to tell her own story, her own way. She focuses only briefly on what a certain generation knows her best for ā the four years she spent as Posh Spice ā and mostly on the two decades sheās been building her eponymous fashion and beauty brand.
Other revelations: While she was the richer partner when they married in 1999 and in fact bought their first house, it was David Beckham who later invested in her label and helped get it going.
She also talks about how her company almost fell apart due to bad business decisions ā like spending 70,000 pounds (about $94,000) on office plants and 15,000 (about $20,000) more to water them ā and how she learned, with investors, to right the ship.
Beckham, 51, sat down with The Associated Press this week during a visit to New York. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
BECKHAM: Well, his documentary wasnāt about me, you know. I was in the documentary as Davidās wife and Iāve been part of his journey and I was so honored to talk about that. Peopleās response to me in that really surprised me, and there was something quite liberating about that because when I saw myself … I didnāt like how I came across. But then I think Iāve always felt that way about myself. I suppose it gave me the confidence to do my own.
BECKHAM: Iāve been in the fashion industry for almost two decades. I was in the Spice Girls for four years ā and have been so defined by that four-year period in my life. A time that Iām so proud of, but Iāve fighting preconceptions because of that period. I feel that only now is my brand in a place where me talking about my past will not affect the brand that Iāve built.
BECKHAM: Iām not ashamed to say Iām really ambitious. And itās been the first time that I’ve ever looked back and, having that birdās eye view on my journey so far, even I found it inspiring what I have done … the fact that I have been told āNoā so many times, told that Iām not enough, not good enough. And by the way, that started when I was a child, when I was at school. If anybody watches this documentary and I can give them the confidence to follow their dreams, thatās another really good reason to do it.
BECKHAM: Oh absolutely, I think that for many years I was misunderstood, before social media, you know, the media told the narrative, and then there were paparazzi pictures where most of the time I looked incredibly unhappy. And I think looking at the documentary telling my story from ME explains the why. I canāt blame people for looking at the pictures of me looking really grumpy.
BECKHAM: Never quite like this. The opportunity has never really presented itself. And I know a lot of people can relate to my story because of all the messages that Iāve had since people have watched the documentary. … From, yes, people that I know, but people that I donāt know, people who say, āI can relate, I have been through that.ā Itās taken this process finally for me to feel at my age proud of what Iāve achieved and also to finally believe that I am enough.
BECKHAM: Iām so respectful of my time with Spice Girls. I still see all of the girls now. I wouldnāt be who I am now … the Spice Girls gave me the confidence to be me. I remember Geri (Halliwell) saying to me, āYouāre funny, be funny.ā Iām shy. And they really gave me my personality back. … I think people would be surprised to know that I was only a Spice Girl for four years. Iāve been in fashion nearly two decades, but people like to pigeonhole.
BECKHAM: Maybe. I donāt know. ā¦ I think Iāve earned my place to be showing where I am. I think that Iāve more than proved myself and earned the right to be there. Now I have to work hard to maintain that.
BECKHAM: Iāve learned so much. I know what I know and I really know what I DON’T know. It got to a stage where my investors told me that we had to re-strategize not just the business side of things but the creative things as well. And that was difficult. … We had to change a lot of things to fix the business and I took it on the chin. Of course that meant compromising, but I wanted to save the business.
BECKHAM: Fashion in its own right is profitable. And to be able to say that in this current climate is something Iām very proud of. Iām an independent brand as well, so Iām incredibly proud to say the fashion is making money. Beauty is also doing incredibly well. And now, it is about building the house that I really have always dreamed of.
BECKHAM: I recognize that I am really blessed. I am very appreciative of the life I have. You have to take it along with the other stuff.
