In the past decade Victoria Beckham has established herself as a world renowned fashion designer and style icon, sure it’s taken a while to find her forte; we’ve all heard the painful solo records, we’ve seen the awkward acting and we’ve read the monotonous books but her new Dover Street Store along with current Spring/Summer collection proves it was worth the wait.
There’s nothing worse than these collections put together by in house design teams and then some talentless reality TV star comes along and puts their name on it and claims to be a fashion designer. No, you’re an endorsement. That is certainly not the case when it comes to the Victoria Beckham brand, her pieces are strategically put together based on her own personal style of classic, subtle tailoring.
On arriving at the Dover street store it is initially a little intimidating, the floor to ceiling slate grey door remains closed and gives the uninviting impression that you need to book an appointment!
Once inside you immediately get the feeling you are in a museum rather than a store, the high ceilings, concrete staircase which in its self seems like a work of art, dark wooden interiors along with the perfectly placed handbags and accessories on white shelves, it’s clear to see the architect chosen was purposefully not familiar with retail spaces.
The décor is a direct reflection of her design philosophy, minimalist, effortless and contemporary. Spread across three floors the garments are perfectly spaced starting with the more affordable items (£500-£600) leading to the more expensive attire of well over a thousand pound.
The fitting rooms are enormous, not like your fast fashion high street cubicles that are hell-bent on making you feel that claustrophobic you need to get out but more like you could happily live in there!
Not only does it look amazing, sleek and sophisticated it also smells it too! With Diptyque’s Feu de Bois candles lining the staircase. The staff all look like they’ve stepped off the runway in black blazer and cigarettes trouser combo’s and are as friendly as they are good looking. Every last detail down to the tills being hand held tablets successfully make VB’s store every bit as modern and glamorous as you would imagine it to be.
Unusually in comparison to other high end designers every single item would be something you would purchase, rather than the sometimes outrageous garments designed to make some form of statement, every piece was simply beautiful and practical. Featuring lots of monochrome with the bursts of orange the clothes are very ’her’. In terms of style, quality and construction it certainly is the best spring/summer collection I have seen so far this year.
