By Chrissy Iley
I was in love with the Victoria Beckham for Target range so much I bought the paper doll book with all the dress up outfits. I don’t have a daughter to give it to and sadly my cat Slut started eating it so I’ll probably have to buy another one. That’s how obsessed I am. To be honest I’d forgotten about Victoria Beckham for Target range until I had an email reminder that it was launching on April 9th. Of course most of the must haves were already gone online and selling on Ebay but I took a pleasant stroll down to the Target at west Hollywood to find a premium shopping experience.
I’ve been to those H&M designer sales before where all you get is an elbow in the gut, shouted at and a ten minute shopping frenzy in a pen. Victoria had laid on snacks, coffee, sparkling water and cookies, hand painted with the bunny from her collection which is for women and girls based on her experiences and relationship with Harper and her love of Alice in Wonderland. You can also see that her long time love of Audrey has inspired the collection. There’s a little black dress with a white collar that looks very Audrey the nun story. I had my eye on the black satin bomber jacket with embroidered bees and lady bugs $70. There was one left. I got it. I also had a basic tank which has a severed edge trim. It’s cut exquisitely and it was $26. The wide palazzo pants with lilies on them were sold out but I did manage to get a lily shirt which is beautiful.
It said in the blurb that she wanted to do a range for all budgets and all sizes. It was sold on Target and on her own website so that people outside of the USA got a chance. I’ve heard stories that the website crashed and I’m sure it did. That’s what always happens with these amazing fashion events but people who bought in a frenzy don’t always put it on Ebay. They return it. There’s also a black and white skirt and the stripes open to reveal more leg. The collection goes up to plus sizes and while I applaud this for being exclusive and I know some of the simple, elegant cuts will work on all body shapes I’m not sure that someone who’s a size 20 wants to be covered in brightly coloured tulips unless you’re maybe Adele.
What we also got given was a free magazine talking about the collection and a couple of interviews with Victoria. There was a rerun of the letter she wrote to her 18 year old self about when she was bullied at school because she was kitted out in the full St Mary’s high school uniform where all the other children had their own coats and the latest cool bag. They threw coke cans and soggy tissues at her and she wrote ‘the thick skin that you develop back then is already standing you in good stead and it will do so for the rest of your life…Your complexion will sort itself out (in fact you will launch your own make up brand…)
Then she goes on to talk about fad diets of super noodles, Frosties and green juices. Then she talks about embracing imperfections and when she wanted to leave Lane Theatre Arts College because she never fitted in but she called her parents from a pay phone box and while her mum said ‘Come home and we’ll go to Lakeside and buy shoes,’ her dad said ‘stay there. Prove everyone wrong.’
It made me think about Victoria, her sense of humour, her thick skin, her determination and Victoria’s dad and I like those words – prove everyone wrong. Look how she did. Few forget that she was once a Spice Girl, she’s so accomplished as a fashion house. OK, the Target collection didn’t sell out within 2 seconds like Missoni but it is well loved. And shoppers felt loved as they sipped their coffee, took their cookies. The toddlers range couldn’t be cuter, with little knitted leggings with bunny bobtails and hoodies with ears. I think she cuts with a thin person in mind so while an oversized shirt dress looks edgy on a thin, flat chested woman, it may not look so good in the larger size but the important thing is it’s there. She has provided a choice for every woman in every budget. She grew up an outsider, feeling left out and her philosophy with this collection was to have everyone feel included.