Why Victoria Beckham is celebrating her first year of profit after 17 years of her brand

The road to success in fashion can be long. Even when you are an international star, married to another international star. Even when your name is Victoria Beckham. The eponymous designer founded her brand in 2008. And it is only this year, in 2024, that she is showing profits for the first time. It recorded revenue growth of 52% in 2023 reaching nearly 107 million euros compared to 69 million in 2022. And its adjusted EBITDA, that is to say its profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, is positive, it is therefore profitable.

Let's leave the numbers aside and take the story back to its beginnings. Seventeen years ago, the former Spice Girls singer made her entry into fashion with a small, minimalist collection, discreetly presented at New York Fashion Week. It is composed of dresses, still very influenced by the spirit of his friend and mentor Roland Mouret. The trend is then towards stretch, tight-fitting and a slightly overwhelming plunging neckline. Then, little by little, the Englishwoman transformed into a true creator. She is expanding her offering. She frees herself from her inspirations, asserts herself and finds her style. It now offers elegant, fluid, luxurious fashion but without frills and with great attention paid to cut-outs.

Paid strategy

While finding her touch in fashion design, Victoria Beckham also reveals herself as a businesswoman. She makes mistakes, learns, surrounds herself and makes choices that finally bear fruit. After a few quickly sold out collaborations with Estée Lauder, she decided to release a line of beauty products in 2019. Instead of leaning on a giant in the sector, she launched in her own name and collaborated with one of the best noses for her perfumes, Jérôme Epinette, and one of the biggest stars in cosmetics for her products, the Professor Augustinus Bader, internationally recognized doctor and researcher, himself owning his own brand of care.

As far as fashion is concerned, it is also changing its strategy by strengthening the coherence between its fashion shows and commercial collections. However, if success in esteem is achieved very quickly, it is not the same for finances. Despite good sales, debts accumulate. In 2013, Victoria Beckham launched her online sales site and opened her first store in London. The same year, it also doubled its turnover, which at the time amounted to more than 30 million pounds sterling.

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In 2017, the private investment company Néo Investment Partners took a stake and injected 30 million pounds sterling. The following year, the brand recorded losses amounting to 11.2 million euros, or 2.2 million euros more than last year. The team is strengthening with more than recognized profiles. Ralph Toledano, the former president of the French Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion (FHCM), is named president of the board of directors and Marie Leblanc de Reynies, former chief buyer of Printemps, becomes the general director.

Winning development

Thanks to this new direction, the brand continues its development by launching, in 2022, a bodywear line and a leather goods line. It will also double its turnover, reaching nearly 107 million euros in 2023 and growing for the third consecutive year. Achieving balance today is therefore a real turning point for the house which is now showing at Paris Fashion Week, another sign of recognition.

“It’s a huge accomplishment,” the designer told Harper’s Bazaar , as she prepares to receive the entrepreneur prize at the Women of the Year Awards 2024. The company has gone through so many things in seventeen years, ups, downs, restructurings, it has been a real 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 harder and harder.” Victoria Beckham has succeeded in this complex challenge of going from singer to artistic director, sweeping away, with time but above all talent, any question of legitimacy.