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All fashion designers are sensitive to criticism, particularly when they are just starting out. But even though the world's fashion press decreed her first collection a resounding success, it seems that Victoria Beckham may have taken one particular complaint to heart.
Last month it was left to Cheryl Cole to be the lone voice of dissent, claiming that Beckham's dresses were "for older women" and "not something we (Girls Aloud) would wear". And while Cole hardly exerts the influence of Anna Wintour, her words seem to have had an effect on Mrs Beckham.
More pictures: Victoria Beckham's new fashion collection
Her second collection, unveiled in New York last night, was a far more youthful affair, featuring bright colours, glittering embellishments and lashings of leg. Eschewing a catwalk show for an intimate, salon-style presentation in a suite at the Waldorf hotel, Mrs Beckham appeared far less nervous than she did when she showed her first collection five months ago.
Dressed in a short black dress of her own design, accompanied by black tights, black Louboutin heels, black nails and a black Dolce & Gabbana hairband, she carefully explained all 23 looks in a confident voice that rarely faltered.
Only once did her PR step in to correct her, after she described a strapless grey cashmere dress as "a bit Mad Max". "You mean Mad Men. Some people told you earlier that it looked 'a bit Mad Men,'," he interjected, referring to the cult BBC4 series of the same name. "Oh yes," Beckham giggled. "I haven't seen Mad Men yet. I'll need to watch it on DVD."
For someone who has so recently turned her hand to fashion design, it was an astonishingly accomplished collection.
If Victoria had only wasted less time singing, who knows what virtuosity she could have reached by now, for clearly this is where her heart lies. The tailoring was immaculate, the fabrics innovative and the overall feel contemporary but infused with a chic Fifties glamour.
Highlights included a slim, cream, calf-length dress with a stiff shawl collar and a black sleeveless shift dress interwoven with gold bouclé.
If Beckham mentioned the word "young" once, she mentioned it a hundred times. A black rubber tweed cape with a zippered front was "youthful and fresh", a purple shot silk mini dress was "cool and young" and a gold houndstooth shift dress was "young, fun but sophisticated."
In fact, despite what Cheryl Cole might think, the collection could have done without the zippered capes, while some of the crystal embellishments detracted from the pleasing simplicity of the tailoring.
While price points remain high - from £850 for a plain day dress to £4,600 for a floor-length gown hand embroidered in India - they have been slightly lowered since last season, thanks to Beckham's decision to remove the intricate corsetry from inside some of the dresses.
"Every single piece should be an investment buy that women can wear not just season to season, but year to year," said Beckham. And at those prices, she's not wrong.
More pictures: Victoria Beckham's new fashion collection
Reader views (4)
Does she not realise most women are not size Zero i.e all sakin and bone like her!
- Atro, London, 16/02/2009 17:57
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I have always thought Mrs Beckham talentless, but this collection of clothes is just lovely. It is what women want, to look sophisticated and beautiful. Shame I do not have the size zero body to wear them though!
- Shirley, London, 16/02/2009 16:46
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The clothes don't look very different from the last collection, shorter and in different fabrics. They are very well made though. And only for the very slimmest.
- Barbara, lucca, italy, 16/02/2009 15:09
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Well done Victoria - the problem is that your designs make women look far too sexy and feminine. That is not what young girls want.
Also, the normality of the designs is a little John Freeman for 'l'ensemble exclusif'.
Ninetheless, I found them very sexy and sophisticated.
- Mis Anthrope, London, 16/02/2009 14:55
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