If there’s one thing Victoria Beckham’s many fans would want most from her life, it’d be her wardrobe. That, and maybe her good-looking family.
Because her transition from Spice Girl to WAG to globally acclaimed fashion designer is bound to contain some pretty cool ensembles that we’ve come to expect from an A-list international celebrity, right?
Beckham knows this very well. That is why, following a trip to South Africa earlier this year with Vogue US editor Anna Wintour, she’s decided to put some of her most coveted wardrobe items — all 600 of them — where her mouth is, and donate them all to charity.
From August 20 to 25, The Outnet, the website that sells previous season’s designs at discounted prices, will make available hats, shoes, bags, jewellery and clothes that Mrs David Beckham has dug out from her closet. Additionally, 10 designer pieces pre-owned by her will also be put in a reverse auction where the price reduces every five minutes.
The sale will benefit mothers2mothers, a charity that trains and employs ‘mentor mothers’ who are women living with HIV, who help other HIV-positive mothers prevent the transmission of the disease to their children.
Raising awareness
“These women are given jobs and they mentor other women that have just found out that they carry the virus. They teach them, give them medication and mentor them. They are the most remarkable women I have ever met in my entire life,” Beckham tells tabloid!. “After spending just a few days with these women and learning more and more about the charity with Mitch [Besser, the founder of the charity], I wanted to do more. I wanted to raise money and I wanted to raise awareness.
“I wanted to do as much as I can do. It really was a life-changing experience. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
Upon her return to the US, the mother-of-three says she immediately knew what she could do, and began by raiding her closet.
“I laughed a lot when we were going through my wardrobe as the pieces hold so many happy memories for me, David and the children. A lot of the clothes have been specially designed for me by the most talented designers and I’ve loved wearing them, however I now feel it’s someone else’s turn to enjoy them,” she says.
“People have been looking at pictures of me for many years and a lot of these pieces have been photographed and are very recognisable. They’re special pieces and are well-made designer pieces and I figured that maybe there’s some good homes that these beautiful pieces can go to, and let’s try and make a difference while we’re doing that.”
Fans looking to own a piece of Beckham will have to pre-register on The Outnet’s website in order to purchase the items.
Natural connection
mothers2mothers founder Besser says Beckham found a “natural connection” with his charity and the mothers it is working with.
“Her experience was very striking. She met the mothers and their children and really understood how it was possible that mothers who are HIV-positive can deliver HIV-negative children and how that can go a long way in eradicating HIV,” he says.
“As a working mother, who wants the best for her kids and family, she really felt connected to the mothers and the cause. And it made a big impression on her because at the end of the visit, she asked me how she could help and what she could do.”
Celebrity involvements, such as Beckham’s is essential to the fight against HIV/AIDS, he adds.
“She is a global icon, whether it’s in music or fashion. So for someone of her stature to get involved is just enormous. Not just to mothers2mothers, but the entire campaign to end HIV.”
Famous supporters
Besser, who is married to singer Annie Lennox, says his charity has been lucky to have famous supporters from around the world.
“Once people come to us, meet the mothers and hear their stories of hope and redemption and of loss and recovery… everyone has been struck by it,” he says. “From Beyonce, Bono, Elton John to Barack Obama and Laura Bush, we’ve had the most amazing people who have lent their names and voices to the cause.
“And now with Victoria sharing this commitment, the sale is transformational because it brings the attention right back to us.”
Beckham says she approached The Outnet for the project because, as a shopper, she knew they were the right people to build the awareness “and raise as much money as possible for mothers2mothers”.
“She could have gone to any number of partners. But she felt we had the global presence and day-to-day marketing experience,” says Stephanie Phair, the president of The Outnet.
While her site’s hosted collaborations with designers in the past, this is the biggest it’s done for charity, she adds.
“It’s a beautiful grassroots charity and Victoria was really moved by it and wanted to use her voice and popularity. So we immediately said yes,” says Phair, adding that all items for sale and auction were picked by Beckham herself.
“She had a strong sense of what she wants to do. She called her mother and sister to help and they picked items that were saleable and with stories behind them. She has an amazing photographic memory and she knew where she wore a particular item, what David was wearing when she wore it and who else she was with.”
Pieces on sale
Auction pieces include a full length, white Dolce & Gabbana dress Beckham wore at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards and a fluorescent yellow Roberto Cavalli gown she wore at a pre-World Cup party she hosted in 2006.
Besser, a gynaecologist from the US, met his famous wife when she travelled to South Africa to work for mothers2mothers, which he founded in 2001. While we can win the war against HIV, consistency is key, he says.
“The awareness comes and goes. The caring about it comes and goes. We’ve reached more than 1.2 million mothers with HIV. We want to reach more. With money that is being raised, we want to go to new countries and extend our reach,” he says.
“That’s why it’s so important to have Victoria step up and why campaigns like the one on The Outnet are so important. It rekindles interest in a cause which is so easily managed if we tried. Through her efforts and that of The Outnet, they are saving a woman’s life, saving a baby’s life.”
Beckham and her husband last year donated clothes worth thousands of pounds to the British Red Cross who was raising funds for victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. She says she only recently realised how she can use the power of celebrity for good.
“Being famous gives you a voice. I can talk about something and people will listen,” she says. “That’s a huge responsibility, a huge power, and it’s taken a long time for me to realise that I can make a difference and I can spread the word and people will listen to me.”
To register for the auction, and for more on the charity collaboration, go to www.theoutnet.com.
