Every woman understands the awkward magic of the first wardrobe: the pieces clumsily pulled from an older sister’s closet, the accidental tucks, the defiant refusal to iron. For her Spring/Summer 2026 collection, Victoria Beckham transformed the messy, thrilling poetry of her own adolescent style into a refined, high-fashion statement. Staged at the Val-de-Grâce during Paris Fashion Week, the show felt like turning the crisp, heavy pages of a teenage diary, translating those “naïve compositions and happy accidents” into a collection steeped in the romantic, yearning mood of coming-of-age cinema like ‘The Virgin Suicides.’
The collection unfolded in a delicate, almost painterly palette of sand dune, coral, aquamarine, and blue mist. Beckham’s keen eye focused on translating the authentic life lived in clothes – the wear, the tear, and the spontaneous gesture moulded into luxurious detail. Erosion and creasing became fundamental design principles. Slip dresses, smocked to create intricate rosette structures, were hand-sprayed to achieve a genuinely worn effect. Tonal floral jacquard lace, often utilised in bustier dresses, was stiffened with internal bonding and then intentionally creased at the bust.
The fragile underpinning of teenage dress-up, particularly evident in negligees and camisoles, was elevated into pressed organza skirt sets embellished with ditsy florals, precise plissé, and crinoline elements that also sculpted the hems of rompers and little shorts.
This dreamy vulnerability found its essential counterbalance in appropriated utility. The collection elevated the idea of hand-me-downs through magnified lumberjack over-shirts woven in rich cotton and bonded to shirting, while heavy cotton-canvas parkas showcased impressive marbled erosion.
In a favourite, almost rebellious gesture, a nubuck jacket featured wired edges that had been intentionally crushed and crumbled up before being smoothed out for wearing. Tailoring, a Beckham signature, served as the ultimate adapted heirloom: herringbone grandpa suits, worn without lapels, featured exaggerated paper-bag trousers that were cinched dramatically to fit. The most relatable act of sartorial liberation was saved for the trouser construction: pants were suspended from georgette basques, perfectly replicating that endearing, accidental-but-chic teenage moment of tucking the top into the tights.
The accessories played with elegant geometry, like the new Plie bag, a voluminous rectangular leather piece flawlessly pressed into a pleat across its centre. Checks from the lumberjack shirts materialised on the roomy Victoria tote, while the V-seam duffel bag cleverly echoed the paper-bag folds seen in the trousers. For structural intrigue, the Dolly, a new top-handle bag, was engineered like an accordion to press into a flatter form.
Evening wear saw dainty, beaded triangular fold-over bags with frills presented as wearable jewellery. Footwear maintained this balance of strength and grace: masculine pointed sling-backs and lace-ups grounded the foot on Cuban heels, while stiletto sandals encased the foot in beautifully framing leather straps.
Final details included oversized rectangular sunglasses, a new belt that shifted the emblematic metal ‘B’ to the tip, and striking silver plume rings and earrings with pavé adornment, all affirming that the instinctive, experimental journey of youth had finally found its sophisticated, fully self-possessed expression.
Discover the collection here.
photography. courtesy of Victoria Beckham
words. Gennaro Costanzo
