Victoria Beckham talks about her working mum struggles

British fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham said life as a working mother is a struggle but she relishes the challenge and plans to expand her empire with a retail store in London.

As mother to three boys — Brooklyn, 14, Romeo, 10, and Cruz, 8 — and to 21-month-old daughter Harper, Beckham said balancing her family life and career was a constant juggle.

“The children are my priority and always have been and always will be so it’s a little bit of a juggling act,” she told the Vogue Festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.

“I really enjoy being a mum, I love my kids more than anything, but I love doing what I do as well and it’s just getting the balance right which is not easy, at all.”

With her second son Romeo appearing in the latest Burberry campaign and football star husband David Beckham fronting an underwear campaign for H&M, 39-year-old Beckham is busy.

But she said she was keen to build further on her success in fashion with plans to open her first retail store in London.

“This is where I want to have my first store ... I’d like to do something that is really new, really fresh. Something a little bit conceptual but not too much,” she said without giving any more details.

Beckham, who made her name as pop singer Posh Spice in the 1990s British all-girl band, entered into fashion in 2004 with American denim brand Rock and Republic, co-designing jeans, skirts and knitwear before launching her own line in 2006.

As a model she has also appeared in campaigns for designers Marc Jacobs and Dolce and Gabanna.

She introduced her Victoria Beckham collection of dresses in 2008 which was well received by the fashion industry and is now a regular fixture on the New York Fashion Week circuit.

Poking fun at those who work in the fashion industry who make regular use of Botox, she said: “There were a lot of raised eyebrows, well those who could raise their eyebrows, that I was going to design a fashion line. There were a lot of preconceptions but I didn’t set out to prove them wrong, I set out to prove to myself I could do it.”

“I’m a perfectionist, I like everything to be right. I’m probably a complete pain in the neck to work with because it is really important to me because I’ve grown this brand from nothing to where it is now.”

Beckham, whose designs are worn by actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Hathaway as well as singer Beyonce Knowles, said she wanted women to be empowered and confident in her clothes.

“A lot of thought goes into everything I design to make a women feel the best that she can feel,” she said.

“Women are always going to feel a little bit insecure. There is a lot of pressure on women to look a certain way and I want to help women feel good about themselves.”

Beckham revealed that she uses herself as a mannequin for her designs.

“I have a great team,’ she said. “We sit around and talk and then I basically get naked and make clothes.

“I’m designing things I’d want to wear myself. I love women and I want to make women feel good about themselves and confident and empowered.’

Beckham’s comments on body image came ahead of a debate on body size at the festival where models Daisy Lowe and David Gandy shared their experiences of working in fashion.

Earlier this month British Vogue magazine signed a 10-point agreement with trade union Equity to ensure that models will not work more than 10 hours a day and to ensure their working conditions in a studio or on location are healthy.

This comes as part of a wider initiative by the fashion industry to encourage a healthier approach to body image.

In February, the Council of Fashion Designers of America issued new guidelines at New York Fashion Week to stop the use of underage and underweight models from walking the runways.

“I think it’s important for women to not just focus on the fantasy and the ideal, but actually what is right for themselves because everyone’s bodies are different and all of them are beautiful in their own way,” said Lowe.

BOX: Victoria’s childcare secrets

The former Spice Girl turned fashion designer has given a detailed insight into the team that helps her handle the demands of a career and motherhood — which includes a nanny.

“I don’t know how I do it. It is a juggling act. It’s no different for me than any other mum.

“I get up very early and go through spelling tests and times tables tests with the kids like any working mum.

“But I am also up late because I have a baby and a 14-year-old who refuses to go to bed. So I don’t get as much sleep as I would maybe like.”

She said she encourages her staff to bring their children to work, joking that her office is like a “creche’.

She said: “My office is quite small and Harper had this swing. So she would swing one way and bash into a pile of fabrics and then swing the other way and bash into a rail of clothes. It’s a small creche.”

“But I have great people who handle my schedule. If there’s a parents’ night or Easter bonnet parade or nativity parade I plan around that so I can be heavily involved.

“But it’s difficult juggling working, having the children, having a husband who travels. I do have a bit of help, I have a nanny, I can’t do it all myself.

“I really enjoy being a mum, I love them [her children] and I’d do anything for them. But I also love what I do. I think anyone who says it’s easy is lying.”

Box: A day in the life of Victoria Beckham

Late at night Victoria Beckham devotes time to her beauty regime, when she plucks her eyebrows, and falls asleep thinking about what she will wear the following day.

“I’ve got four kids so I don’t have as much time as I’d like in the morning to pick out what I’m going to wear,” she said.

“I think about it in bed before I go to sleep, I visualise it. It’s funny, I told David and he said he actually visualises football when he’s lying in bed. And Gordon Ramsay told me he visualises food.”

Beckham’s morning routine also involves rigorous exercise, and she is a sworn fan of celebrity fitness guru Tracy Anderson, who Gwyneth Paltrow credits with helping her achieve her trim figure.

“I get up really early three times a week to work out,” she said. “I do Tracy Anderson. It’s a bit of dancing on the treadmill, a bit of bottom work.”

She added: “I’ve done rock climbing with the children, cycling, and I don’t wear heels for that.”

The Beckhams moved to LA when David signed with the LA Galaxy football team and have since returned to live in London.

Beckham said she was enjoying life back in the UK, even though her husband is now playing for Paris St-Germain in France.

“Living in London is very, very different from Los Angeles, but it’s great, it’s inspiring — London is such an inspiring place to live, so multicultural, it’s interesting, I’m happy,” she added.