Victoria Beckham matches crutches to her outfit at Paris Fashion Week
Victoria Beckham has been forced to style it out on crutches at her own fashion show in Paris.
While the event may traditionally call for eye-catching outfits, the British designer’s costume plans appear to have been scuppered after she suffered a broken foot.
Beckham nevertheless sought to style out the injury, and arrived at Paris Fashion Week on black crutches that perfectly matched her black leather jacket, sunglasses and trousers. Earlier this week, she was seen wearing a high heel on one foot, while the other was supported with a medical boot.
She jokingly said, “I’m finding these very empowering,” at a preview of her latest collection, shown at Paris Fashion Week on Friday evening, as she wielded them to point out details on a dress.
Two weeks into life on walking aids, with five more to go, she said she had “really had to embrace a legging and a kitten heel”.
The designer had been planning to wear a new ultra-long trouser style from her collection to take her bow after presenting her latest designs on the catwalk last night.
However, she said she was “a bit worried that if I get the crutch stuck on the right leg I’d go flying and I don’t want another accident”. Instead she wore a slightly less precarious pair of tailored black trousers and a black tank top as she slowly made her way to her family at the end of the show.
The Victoria Beckham show, held at the grand Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, was a chance for her family to assemble around its matriarch.
David Beckham and their daughter Harper, 12 sat alongside eldest son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Anne Peltz Beckham, who was rocking a pair of sky-high heels and body-con red dress. The footballer Ronaldo also joined the family on the front row.
The new collection showcased on the catwalk included a slinky navy dress that was crafted to look like bed sheets billowing in the wind as they dry on the washing line, leather bomber jackets with exaggerated high collars and blazers which hung from the front of the models’ bodies to expose their backs. A new bag was inspired by a vintage briefcase she had bought for David in Tokyo last year.
The former Spice Girl, 49, later shared a video with her fans in which she toasted to the start of the annual fashion showcase in the French capital with a glass of £160 tequila.
She had previously told fans that she had broken her left foot because she “fell over at the gym” and was forced to wear a supportive boot.
Her husband, David, elaborated on the incident, telling fans on Instagram: “Apparently my wife’s little accident in the gym was a clean break.”
‘I’m just feeling very proud’
She was joined in Paris by her husband, alongside their son Brooklyn, plus their daughter-in-law Nicola Peltz, who may take part in Beckham’s planned autumn/winter 2024 show in Paris.
Beckham is approaching her 50th birthday, a milestone that she will reach in April, but the designer told The Telegraph last year that she was “not obsessed with looking young”.
She also explained the pressure of Paris, saying: “Paris is the crème de la crème. It definitely raised my game, but weirdly I feel less nervous showing there than I did in London or New York.”
She added: “I have an amazing CEO in Marie Leblanc [who previously worked at Printemps, the Parisian department store, as well as Isabel Marant and Celine].
“She really ironed out all the kinks and restructured us. That’s huge – during the pandemic every day felt like we were putting out fires. Now sales in the store are up 80 per cent on the previous year.
“Right now, I’m just feeling very proud.”
Animal rights activists disrupt show
Animal rights activists from Peta demonstrated at Beckham’s runway show on Friday.
The activists entered the runway as the models were walking down it, holding up placards that read “Viva Vegan Leather” and wearing t-shirts with the message “Turn your back on animal skins” and “Animals aren’t fabric”, before being escorted away by security.
As Beckham greeted the audience at the end of the show, another activist managed to slip onto the runway bearing the same placard.
Peta said it had also stormed the catwalks of Coach in New York, Burberry in London, and Fendi in Milan this season.