Handsome Femininity. Victoria Beckham Pre-Fall 2024

“I like to put a bit of myself into my collections,” says Victoria Beckham. For pre-fall 2024, the designer followed the threads of the semi-autobiographical mainline show she put on in Paris: ideas stemming from the weekend country-life she lives these days on the one hand, and from her ballet-mad girlhood on the other. The collection informed both, her knack for styling – as usual – and by her empathy for making clothes that are actually useful. The contemporary-dance influence flows through her series of long, fluid dresses. Some have cutout necklines with wired curliqued inserts. What’s newer, but also well-established by now, is Beckham’s reputation for tailoring. That’s the side she refers to as “handsome feminity” in this collection – meaning the look of British heritage tweeds and preppy peacoats, styled together with turtlenecks, shirts, and cropped flares, or casualized with cargo pants or various permutations of denim pieces. She has a well-judged way of making these templates interesting as well as simple to wear.