It was business as usual for brand Beckham in Paris on Monday night. An almost complete line-up of the Beckham clan turned up to watch Victoria be made an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by Rachida Dati, the French culture minister, during couture week in the city.
It was the first public appearance by Sir David and Victoria Beckham since their eldest son, Brooklyn, made a statement last week disowning his family and accusing them of “controlling narratives” via “performative social media posts” and “inauthentic relationships”.
The accusation that launched a thousand memes, however, was that his mother “danced very inappropriately on me” at his wedding in 2022 to Nicola Peltz, daughter of the American billionaire Nelson Peltz.
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Such infelicities felt a long way away from the gilded boiserie and chandelier pile-up of a grand salon in the Ministry of Culture overlooking the grounds of the Palais-Royal. Victoria might even have come across as chaste in her high-necked, long-sleeved black gown, if it weren’t for the fact that it was bodycon and slashed to the thigh, and that she was wearing high-heeled peep-toe mules.
How convenient too that the gold of the medal that Dati attached to her chest should chime so perfectly with her huge gold Rolex. “Merci from the bottom of my heart,” Beckham said.
David and their other three children, Romeo, 23, Cruz, 20 and Harper, 14, looked on. The siblings were dressed in black like their mother. Just one of the ensuing revelations of the past week is that Victoria has owned the rights to all her children’s names since 2016. Also, Harper must surely be the only 14-year-old in the world in possession of a crocodile Hermès mini Birkin bag.
Victoria Beckham is presented with the honour by the French culture minister
Romeo and Cruz’s girlfriends, Kim Turnbull and Jackie Apostel, were in attendance too. The rumour mill is convinced that Brooklyn’s wife is a big part of the reason he fell out with his family. His brothers’ plus ones are evidently in favour. The rumour mill also thinks Turnbull may previously have had a relationship with Brooklyn and that this may also have fuelled the interfamilial froideur. I know. Byzantine doesn’t begin to cover it.
Among the other attendees were fashion power brokers such as Anna Wintour, formerly the editor of American Vogue, now global chief content officer at Condé Nast, François-Henri Pinault, the president of Kering, which owns brands such as Gucci and Saint Laurent, and Antoine Arnault, whose father, Bernard Arnault, is the chief executive officer of LVMH, which includes Louis Vuitton.
Celebrities included the model Helena Christensen, the photographer Juergen Teller and, well, David himself, of course. The last British fashion figure to receive the Order of Arts and Letters was Naomi Campbell in 2024.
Dati professed a “childhood love of the Spice Girls” and claimed: “I can show you the dance moves.” Yet the award was, in truth, more about the fact that Beckham chose to relocate the biannual catwalk show for her eponymous label to Paris in 2022. “I am deeply patriotic,” she said, “but France is one of the few places where fashion is treated with the seriousness it deserves.”
Cruz, Nicola Peltz, Victoria and Brooklyn Beckham in February 2024
LISA O’CONNOR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Brand Victoria Beckham — which encompasses fashion and beauty — reported a 26 per cent increase in year-on-year revenue in 2024 to £112.7 million, its fourth year of double-digit growth, though this was largely fuelled by the beauty side of the business.
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Beckham was on Instagram promoting her bestselling Satin Kajal eyeliners — one sells every 30 seconds — only yesterday. (The day before that she posted from the 50th birthday party of Emma Bunton, aka Baby Spice, though not, it is worth noting, from the dance floor.)
What is more problematic when it comes to her label is that it is still running at an undisclosed loss. Accounts filed at Companies House show that shareholders advanced a £6.2 million loan this year to address “material uncertainties”. The brand is owned by the designer, her husband and NEO Investment Partners.
David smiled broadly — some might say fixedly — throughout his wife’s speech, in marked contrast to Victoria, who has turned not smiling into her signature. “It’s been a long road to get here,” she said, “and I am so grateful to you, David, my husband and my original investor.”
She went on to thank “my parents and my children for always believing in my vision”. Though not all of them any more, it would seem.