Celebrity endorsements aren’t something Victoria Beckham has a hard time getting.
Since launching her eponymous fashion brand 17 years ago, Victoria’s designs have been worn by Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Lady Gaga, Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lopez, Gal Gadot and Naomi Campbell.
But it wasn’t the celebrities wearing the clothes that finally brought Victoria’s clothing company out of the red last year.
The former Spice Girl turned her career around in 2008, when she presented her first ready-to-wear collection, made up of 10 fitted dresses, in a New York hotel suite full of fashion journalists.
Early reviews were largely favorable, although slightly skeptical about how long the fashion industry would hold Victoria’s attention before she set her sights elsewhere.
But the former Spice Girl’s line was not always a success: her husband David had to rescue her and 2019 marked 11 consecutive years of losses.
Weeks before her debut at Paris Fashion Week in 2022, her fashion company “is £53.9m in debt”.
But profitability was just around the corner, as Victoria prepared for her inaugural presentation in the fashion capital of the world.
The collection was a perfect blend of her mainstream sensibility with the portability of her diffusion line, and comprised 40 styles, including impeccably tailored suits, sets, skirts and dresses.
And one outfit in particular that stole the show.
Supermodel Bella Hadid walked the runway in a parrot-green ruched midi dress that, in the months since, has gained cult status, drawing comparisons to the cult Herve Léger dress that was all the rage in the ’90s.
The calf-length dress reportedly accounts for one in every 10 Victoria Beckham outfits sold, making it one of the singer-turned-fashion designer’s biggest hits.
Victoria in her dress and David Beckham in New York City, 2022
Supermodel Bella Hadid premiered the dress, part of Victoria Beckham’s spring/summer 2023 collection, in Paris in 2022.
Kendall Jenner with the parrot green midi dress from Victoria Beckham’s eponymous brand
Reflecting on the company’s long and winding road to profitability, Victoria said Harper’s Bazaar “It’s a great achievement.”
Victoria, named Businesswoman of the Year by the magazine, added: “The company has been through a lot in the last 17 years: ups, downs, restructuring… it’s been quite a journey.”
“So to finally be able to say that we are profitable is something that I am very proud of, because it is not an easy industry and it is getting more difficult,” she added.
Dubbed her ‘cult item’, the dress has been flying off the shelves since Bella first debuted it on the runway at Paris Fashion Week in 2022.
Since then, it’s been worn by everyone from Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor and supermodels Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Kendall Jenner, to Queen Letizia of Spain and Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden.
And while the outfit is loved by Hollywood stars and European royalty alike, its widespread popularity has a lot to do with the dress’s timeless and universally flattering silhouette.
The dress, which is available in a variety of colors and prints, features a long gathered waist. Gathering or gathering from the waist to the hip is as flattering as it is indulgent, adding movement and interest to a very simple silhouette, not to mention disguising any bulges that some people may be self-conscious of.
Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw opted to wear the calf-length ruched dress, available in several colors, to the Victoria Beckham show in Paris in September 2023.
Other fashion fans include model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 37, seen in Paris.
The dress has draped tulip sleeves that cleverly hide any insecurities, while still feeling young and feminine.
Cut like a midi-length, slightly flared tea dress, the ensemble can easily be dressed up or down for a variety of different occasions, from red carpet premieres and royal engagements to dinners with friends.
By 2011, Victoria’s fledgling brand had made more than £15 million in sales, but profitability remained a distant dream. By 2015, annual revenue had more than doubled to £34 million, but the company’s losses also increased significantly as Victoria focused on expanding aggressively.
This would mark the start of a particularly challenging period for Victoria and her company, despite securing a £30 million investment from Neo Investment Partners in 2017.
The following year, Victoria Beckham Limited posted a £12.3 million loss which soared to £16.6 million in 2019, marking 11 years of consecutive losses since the former Posh Spice became a designer.
The bright spark during this period was the launch of Victoria Beckham Beauty in 2019, which remains one of the company’s biggest revenue drivers today.
In 2021, auditors warned of “significant doubts” about the Victorian fashion company’s ability to continue trading when it was reported that the company had racked up debts of more than £46 million since its launch.
However, in 2019, David Beckham had reportedly rescued his wife’s fashion brand with a £23 million cash injection.
Actress Phoebe Dynevor, 29, wore a cream version of the Spice Girl creation to the BAFTA Tea Party in Los Angeles.
Amanda Holden, 53, wore a purple version at Ascot last year which she paired with a purple beret, clutch and matching shoes.
Queen Letizia of Spain, 51, wore the suit at the coronation of King Charles on May 5, 2023.
The former English footballer gave the Victorian company a £4m loan and £6.6m in cash in spring 2016 to keep his business afloat.
David’s donation comes after the Victoria company, which owes another of the Beckham companies £12.2 million from a 2017 loan, reported a £10 million loss before Christmas for 2017.
By the end of 2022, Victoria’s business was finally in the black, showing a profit of £200,000, 14 years after the former pop star embarked on her entrepreneurial journey.
Earlier this year, revenue from its fashion and beauty business was reported to have more than doubled, with sales rising 52 per cent to £89 million last year, from £59 million in 2022.
At the time, the Mail exclusively revealed that Bella’s dress had been Victoria’s secret to turning around the fortunes of her once-troubled brand.
Victoria, who turned 50 in April, was said to be “delighted” by her rotation and went all out on the calf-length ruched dress which is available in several colors including black, royal blue, red and ivory. There is also a ‘mini dress’ option.