So this time yesterday I was waiting for Victoria Beckham to grace the stage of the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the South Bank Centre, London. Yep that’s right, I was attending Vogue Festival – the only festival of its kind.
About the event
This year was Vogue’s second festival which was again situated in London near the city’s biggest attractions including Big Ben and the Millennium Wheel. The sun was beaming down as me and my mom walked across the Waterloo Bridge. The event was packed full of fashion savvy men and women who were all eager to catch a glimpse inside the world of Vogue.
The Vogue Festival took place Saturday 27th April – Sunday 28th April where inspirational people from the fashion world gathered together to share their insight of the fashion industry to aspiring fashionistas. Talks and discussions were held by influential designers including Victoria Beckham, Michael Kors, Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood. Our favorite models also graced the stages including Daisy Lowe, Alexa Chung and Cara Delevingne.
Aside from the scheduled talks, there was a number of beauty stands including a braid bar and make up stands. There was also a place for aspiring models to pose for their very own Vogue cover which was photographed by one of the magazines contributing fashion photographers with accessories and make-up touch ups provided. A Vogue café to grab a bite to eat, the Vogue shop for merchandise and a media bar for internet access were also on the scene.
Like any show or festival, you can’t leave without picking up some merchandise, so I opted for a Vogue vest top which I will be wearing during the summer!
So back to the ‘My Fashion Life’ talk by Victoria Beckham…
Full of life and confidence, Victoria graced the stage wearing a beige blouse with front detail and a low cut neckline along with a gray side slit skirt and white stilettos. Joining Victoria on stage was Vogue editor, Alexandra Shulman, who had prepared the questions for the talk. Unfortunately, we were unable to take photographs within the auditorium so I couldn’t get any pictures of Victoria herself, but the talk left me feeling inspired nonetheless. Our very own Posh Spice spoke about her life as a designer, her family and her future aspirations. This one hour talk gave the audience a real insight into the ex popstar’s life which truly shows that the media is full of misconceptions of her.
The singer-turned-designer was full of wit and confidence which is a complete different side to what the media convey her as. Victoria entered the stage by taking note of the number of people in the audience and then saying ‘There’s a lot of people here; I hope I’m going to say something good now’. This goes to show that the designer wasn’t expecting such a big audience to listen to her talk about her life and sucesses. Victoria continued her humor when talking about how people reacted when they heard she was making her way as a designer – ‘At the beginning there was a lot of raised eyebrows, or those that could raise their eyebrows’. When asked how she manages to travel a lot, Mrs Beckham replied with ‘Dark glasses Alex’. Needless to say the audience were very much engaged with Victoria and her present sense of humor.
On her career as a fashion designer she said that aspiring designers need to be prepared to start from the bottom and work their way up to the top. Victoria told us that she had always wanted to be part of the fashion world which she gradually got involved in by ‘dipping her toe’ in various aspects of fashion including a sunglasses company and a jeans brand. Mrs Beckham spoke about how much of a perfectionist she is and how she is probably a ‘pain in the neck’ to work with. The designer is a part of every single step in the design process and everything must be correct in order to go any further forward. Victoria gets inspired from traveling and from being at home and being a wife and a mother. The style icon also spoke about the success of her new ecommerce website where she has her own Capsule collection which is exclusively available on her website. This collection features some of her favorite designer from her previous collections with a few extra details or adjustments. Victoria’s next step is to hopefully open a retail store in London and perhaps create a high street collaboration in the future.
Victoria says she’s ambitious, disciplined and believes that ‘Whatever you can do should be done to the best of your ability’. However, she did admit that she could be more relaxed ‘I’m really boring’.
Victoria also spoke passionately about her family by discussing how she manages to juggle four kids, a husband and a successful career. In fact, her eldest son Brooklyn was in the front row watching the talk. The designer admits that it is a juggling act but she revolves everything around her family. She also loves children in the workplace admitting that she has brought Harper to work a number of times and is happy for her employees to do the same.
Were you lucky enough to attend one of the biggest fashion events of 2013? If so, what were your thoughts?
