The Church of the Val-de-Grâce made a fitting venue for Victoria Beckham’s Paris Fashion Week debut. A sacred space seemed to amplify the essence of the designer’s homily: the body is a temple and it deserves to be draped in finery and flaunted for the heavens.
Through sheer silk shawls, fringed peek-a-boo dresses, and tassels spiralling around waists, the designer’s SS23 collection celebrated a woman serene in her sexuality. Some looks even winked at Gone with the Wind—that is, if Scarlett O’ Hara strutted through today’s Paris letting any fucks she might still give drift in the breeze.
Beckham’s last major show was three years ago. The pandemic left her with so much pent-up passion for unapologetically sexy silhouettes—but marked by a considered edge. The tasteful, transparent fabrics that Beckham and design director Lara Barrio (previously at Salvatore Ferragamo) favoured weren’t merely to provoke but to revel in the complex construction of each piece.
The delays leading to this first showing might have worked in the label’s favor. There’s nothing like Paris to reignite one’s passions, and perhaps nothing like Paris Fashion Week to arouse one’s pleasure in dressing up once more.
Explore Victoria Beckham at UNIVERS - shop the label at our Greenbelt 3 location.
