Victoria Beckham on her Spice Girls days: 'They used to turn off my microphone'

Victoria Beckham in 1997
Victoria Beckham in 1997 Credit: Rex

Victoria Beckham has made no secret of the fact that performing on stage is not where she feels most comfortable, preferring a coy bow at the end of her New York fashion week catwalk shows. But she has now revealed that such was the extent of her unease during her days with the Spice Girls, that her microphone used to be turned off during concerts.

“They used to turn it off and just let the others sing," Beckham said in an interview with Claudia Winkleman at the Vogue 100: A Century of Style exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London on Thursday evening. Not that the former Spice Girls seemed to mind: "I got the last laugh - and now my mic is well and truly on, finally.”

Victoria Beckham performing on stage at the Olympics
Victoria Beckham performing on stage at the Olympics Credit: Reuters

But if Victoria wasn't considered the best singer in the band, she certainly proved she was the most stylish Spice Girl. "I was always the one that loved fashion and it was quite a result for me because the girls always used to get their clothes for free because they were crap and so there was a lot of budget for me to have my little Gucci dress," she told the audience. 

Whilst the other band members poked fun at her designer obsession -  "I bet it must be really hard for you Victoria, ya know, trying to decide whether to wear the little Gucci dress, the little Gucci dress or the the little Gucci dress," Mel C sang in Spice World - her dresses weren't always expensive. "The first dress that I wore in the Spice Girls, which everybody thought was a little black Gucci dress, was actually from Miss Selfridge - it wasn't a little back Gucci dress," Beckham reminded us. 

The Spice Girls in 1996
The Spice Girls in 1996 Credit: Rex

These days, of course Mrs Beckham doesn't need to rely on the high street - she's managed to turn the collection of ten dresses she first designed in 2008 into a £34m business. Beckham’s initial post-Spice Girls foray into fashion began with denim and sunglasses licensing deals that traded on her old love affair with bling and humour (initially the jeans had embroidered crowns on the back, harking back to the days when she was Queen of Beckingham Palace), but soon Beckham and her team foresaw that a more discreet approach may serve them better to both win over the fashion industry and take a slice of the luxury fashion pile.

Today, she employs 150 people in her London and New York offices, has just opened a store in Hong Kong and her collection sells out, no doubt in part because by wearing her own collection she's a 360 degree walking, talking  advertising hoarding.  

But though her design empire is a serious business, last night Beckham revealed that her A-list status does provide some unexpected days at work. Such as the day her friend Tom Cruise visited her office... “So I was working on a collection and all the mood boards were up – and my team is in the room with me – and all of a sudden there was a knock on the door and Tom walks in, all in black with a pair of aviators, and he stands legs apart and his hands on his hips," she told Winkleman. "He basically came as Maverick. He spent such a long time with every single person, whether it was the design team, e-com, marketing and he spoke to all of the seamstresses."

Victoria Beckham performing at the Brits in 1997
Victoria Beckham performing at the Brits in 1997 Credit: Rex

Beckham's 4-year-old daughter Harper also does her best to keep up morale at Beckham HQ in the stressful days before her New York Fashion Week show. "Each season before we leave for New York I always take the kids down there," she explained. "Last season Harper tap-danced for all the ladies working on the sewing machines." As for her husband David? Other than sitting front row each show, Victoria said his biggest asset was providing her with biscuits and crisps backstage. 

 

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