The first and greatest episode of this three-part documentary is pointedly titled ‘Who Does She Suppose She Is?’. It’s a quick encapsulation of the fascination laced with disdain that follows Victoria Beckham, the style designer previously often known as Posh Spice.
Almost 30 years after she shot to fame with the Spice Women, the pre-eminent pop group of their period, Beckham’s personal life stays tabloid catnip. Naturally, this stylish Netflix collection from David Beckham’s Studio 99 manufacturing home makes no point out of the couple’s rumoured “feud” with their eldest son, Brooklyn, and daughter-in-law Nicola Peltz.
Beckham has finished TV docs earlier than – and nearly stole the present in her husband’s 2023 Netflix collection – however this can be a main degree up from, say, 2007’s botched actuality present Victoria Beckham: Coming To America. Directed by Nadia Hallgren, whose earlier credit embrace an Emmy-nominated movie about Michelle Obama, Turning into, it follows Beckham as she prepares for an important catwalk present of her profession – at Paris Vogue Week.
As Beckham and her workforce fret over matches and materials, it tracks her outstanding journey from ‘Wannabe’ pop star to revered high-end designer. The primary three speaking heads are Vogue legend Anna Wintour and fellow designers Tom Ford and Donatella Versace – a severe flex provided that Beckham was written off as a star interloper when she launched her eponymous label in 2008.
There are not any contributions from the Spice Women, which is a disgrace, and the band’s stratospheric success is handled briskly within the first episode. Beckham’s temporary solo profession is barely talked about, so when you’re on the lookout for the deeper that means behind her 2-step banger ‘Out Of Your Thoughts’ – a track Charli XCX may cowl – you’ll be disillusioned. Having spent 17 years constructing her style model, she’s clearly decided to showcase it right here.
On digicam at the least, Beckham doesn’t actually do spontaneity, and she or he might be an unreliable narrator. In episode one, she talks about dreaming of attending a elaborate Hollywood stage faculty whereas truly taking dance lessons in her native village corridor. Solely later, in episode two, does she point out that her dad and mom remortgaged their home so she may attend Laine Theatre Arts Faculty, a prestigious Surrey academy the place she was cruelly body-shamed by a instructor.
Nonetheless, inside her personal fastidiously managed parameters, she’s a compelling topic who doesn’t gloss over her errors. When Beckham admits that she as soon as had particular chairs flown the world over for a style presentation, she winces on the pointless extra – at one level, her enterprise was “tens of hundreds of thousands within the purple”.
It’s additionally endearing that the girl who famously nicknamed her husband “Goldenballs” has retained her earthy sense of humour. When she chats about David’s pet chickens with co-workers, Beckham can’t resist quipping: “It’s best to see his magnificent cock!”
Hallgren consists of some stunning clips of Beckham being mocked on ’90s TV – haughty artwork critic Brian Sewell calls her a “widespread little bitch” – however by no means actually drills into the combination of snobbery and sexism that made her a goal. Given the appalling means Beckham has been talked about through the years, it’s no surprise she likes to sculpt her personal narrative now.
The collection ends with a candy however barely stagey dialog between Beckham and her husband, during which she admits she will be able to barely make a cheese sandwich, earlier than a Spice Women deep minimize performs over the credit. Who does she assume she is? On this proof, a resilient grafter who totally understands her personal model and the transformative energy of style.
‘Victoria Beckham’ is obtainable to stream on Netflix now
