One afternoon in July, two of the most in-demand women in the world took time out from their holidays—Beckham,
celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary in Corsica and Kidman in the Bahamas with her family—to connect over Zoom.
The two have much in common: both are fearless creatives in control of their professional endeavours, both are self-professed girls’ girls who crave the support of female energy.
(“My best friend is Harper,” Beckham told Kidman.) And both take pride in their tight-knit family units, something Kidman praised Beckham for cultivating.
By the end of the conversation, the pair had made plans for a meet-up in Nashville between Beckham’s youngest son Cruz, who has musical aspirations, and Kidman’s husband Keith Urban, as well as “Chrissy in Sydney”, and a holiday en famille at Casa Beckham, dancing in the kitchen every morning. “If it’s anything like the documentary, we’re moving in,” Kidman joked. “Keith will play guitar. He can play anything by ear.”
We think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Alaia coat, Supriya Lele bodysuit, Rick Owens x Straytukay boots.
ON BUILDING A BUSINESS
VICTORIA BECKHAM: “I am so excited that you agreed to do this. It means so much.”
NICOLE KIDMAN: “Well, I love you. And you know I love your make-up. Because remember I saw you in London and I was like, ‘Oh my god! I’m obsessed with that eyeliner.’…So, when did we first meet? I don’t think we’ve met that often. But recently, we’ve seen each other a lot more…We were at the soccer in Nashville, remember? And we were all going to go out and then Reese [Witherspoon] is like, ‘No, I’m too tired’…But I wanted to go out!”
VB: “We found ourselves that night at an open mic night in Nashville. Me, David and the kids, and I remember I DMed you thinking that it would be so fun for us girls to go out for a night in Nashville.”
NK: “A raincheck on that, you’ll have to come back. I want to do an open mic with you. That would be fun, come on!”
VB: “And when I do come back to Australia, which I really want to do with David and the children, you’ll have to show us around Sydney.”
NK: “We’re here. And we know the really great beaches, we have all the inside [knowledge]…So let’s talk about you. I’m going to get official. You are unbelievable, actually. The label launched in 2008. What was happening in your life at that time and why did you want to take control of your destiny in that way?”
VB: “It was always my passion to be in fashion and beauty. I’d obviously been in the Spice Girls. I took the plunge, and there was an innocence and naivety. If I knew then what I know now, I might not have had the courage to do it, but I didn’t really know anything about the industry. I went into fashion in a very honest, humble way. I just wanted to create clothes I couldn’t find myself…And now after 17 years we’re proud to say that fashion in its own right is profitable, and for a ready-to-wear brand and an independent brand to be able to say that is a huge achievement…And now we’re building. I spent many years working on the foundations and now I can start to build the house that I always dreamed about. We have fashion that’s not just ready-to-wear but we have bags and shoes, we have beauty, which is enormously successful in its own right, and now I have fragrance, which for me is the halo of the brand. Now, that makes us a real house.”
NK: “Wow. It’s so inspiring…Being a woman and being able to go, okay, I’m going to take control of what I do and I’m going to morph into something else, and then the longevity of that. It’s something everybody admires, I certainly do. And then succeeding! Even when you take the hits, which was really apparent in the [Beckham] documentary. Both of you going, no, we’re still going to keep going. That resilience is fantastic. And then also–you’re funny!”
VB: “It kinda helps me out that for many years people thought that I was very serious, maybe a little stuck-up, never smiled in pictures. Let’s be honest, fashion works better when you don’t smile. It is what it is! It kind of did me a favour that the media painted this picture of me that was out of my control. Before social media people got their impression of you from what they read in the newspapers, right, and the pictures they saw. And at the time that sometimes used to frustrate me, because I knew that wasn’t the real me and I was very much criticised for that persona. But then the great thing about getting older is that you care less, and now the fact that you can connect to your communities through social media, never wanting to prove anything to anyone but your natural personality coming across.”
“It started out with music and girl power and it went from that into empowering women through fashion and beauty, and that’s what I love to do.”
ON PASSIONS
NK: “Did you really get driven to school in a Rolls?”
VB: “You know, my dad had a Rolls-Royce and he also had a white van. I came from a working-class background and so my dad in the 80s, he was an entrepreneur, he started his business with my mum at the kitchen table and he did very well, so he bought himself a Rolls-Royce. We went to a regular school and we didn’t live in a big house and the minute he made money he went and bought himself a Rolls-Royce. One day we’d go to school in the Rolls-Royce and one day we’d go in the van because he’d still work, he was an electrical wholesaler and he was very much a worker. Me and my siblings used to beg him, can we please go to school in the white van? Like, we were mortified at the idea of going in the Rolls-Royce. How things have changed! Nowadays, I’d be like, don’t worry about the van, let’s go in the Roller! But in those days, we just wanted to fit in.”
NK: “Are you a car person?”
VB: “Am I a car person? I do like cars. What do you drive?”
NK: “My husband is a car person. I am not a car person. I’m like, you can pick me up in anything, I’ll be happy. I do like a bit of air conditioning.”
VB: “But what do you drive? That’s what I want to know. What does Nicole drive?”
NK: “So here’s the thing. My husband bought me a Lamborghini.”
VB: “I love that!”
NK: “But I drive a Subaru and he drives the Lamborghini.”
VB: “I love the idea of Nicole Kidman pulling up somewhere and the car doors–because they’re the car doors that go up, right?
NK: “No, no, no. It’s not a Sports, it’s the Urus.”
VB: “Oh, okay…I still wanna imagine that you’re in that Lamborghini with the wings going up.”
NK: “I think that’s why he bought it for me…He loves fast cars, he loves any cars. That’s his thing. He’s a Queensland boy, came from nothing. Sort of the same thing as David where you go, ‘I’m going to build myself up and make myself who I am.’ Like you, like me. We’re self-made, all four of us, right?”
VB: “David is very much the same as your husband. Obsessed. Cars and football.”
NK: “There you go. Cars, football and guitars. And thus, we like cars, football and guitars.”
VB: “Absolutely.”
NK: “And make-up, and clothes!”
VB: “I just recently saw you at the Balenciaga show. You looked incredible, by the way.”
NK: “Thank you. That’s why I love your clothes, because I really love things that feel beautiful and I love textures, but I love simplicity and chic. And your dresses and your pants–sublime.”
VB: “Well, thank you.”
NK: “We all love your clothes. I call and go, ‘Is there any chance I can borrow that dress?’…And I always send them back perfectly intact.”
VB: “Always!”
NK: “And then I go buy the clothes.”
VB: “Well you shouldn’t have to buy anything. You would be my perfect muse.”
NK: “I like to buy. I don’t want to get a freebie. I like buying, it’s important.”
VB: “You’re very kind. For me, to empower women and make them feel like the best version of themselves is why I do what I do. It started out with music and girl power and it went from that into empowering women through fashion and beauty, and that’s what I love to do.”
ON RELATIONSHIPS
VB: “We actually just celebrated our 25 years anniversary. Can you believe it?”
NK: “We’re 18 years.”
VB: “It’s such an achievement. We came away with three of the children, Brooklyn is not here, he’s in New York with his wife. We had the best dinner last night. We woke up this morning and said, ‘We’re so proud of the kids, they’re such great, kind, sweet, humble, funny, hardworking young adults.’ Getting that balance is very difficult. I struggled with that a lot when the children were younger. We’ve never had an enormous amount of staff, if you like. We do have nannies and we do have our parents, who have been amazing.
But you do feel like you’re juggling. You’re trying to be the best wife, the best mum, the best professional. We didn’t have much of a social life when the children were younger, that is just that one thing too much. Being a wife, mum and fulfilling your dreams in regards to what your passions are, and what you love to do in regards to work, was enough. But then the kids get older and they flee the nest and have their own passions. Now myself and David are in the next chapter. Even Harper, who is 13, has her friendship group, she loves to do her own thing, and we’re super, super close but it definitely feels like that next chapter of our lives together. Your daughter I saw at the Balenciaga show. How old is she?”
NK: “She’s about to turn 16. That’s what I told her, when she was 16 she was allowed to come to a show. She’s wanted to go for a long time. That was her foray into it, and that was it. I’m like no, no more. It’s a push-pull. I don’t want to hold her back because I don’t want to be coddling her. We’re in the same boat as you–we put so much into the family and a lot of our social life didn’t exist, and now we need to make new friends, get out more, say yes. When you’re raising kids, [you say] ‘I can’t actually go to that’, or you’re sick and cancelling, or you’ve got to work, and the one thing that’s going to fall is going out and creating new groups of friends. Now we’re older–so we’re going, okay, we as a couple have to find our next step in the world and not just based on us doing stuff as a family.”
VB: “I love spending time with my husband. Let me tell you–David Beckham is very funny. I have a husband I very much am still in love with, possibly more than when we first met. We really laugh. And we really support each other in regards to our careers and passions. I said to him last night–and the kids–after 25 years, I love your dad so much and I support him and continue to want him to be the best version of himself, and he does that for me. And it’s really important that the children see that. I feel very thankful and grateful that I have not compromised with my career, and I can still do what I love, and I enjoy it. Me and David can go away, just the two of us, and we laugh and we enjoy that time, and I think that’s so rare after so many years. It’s a pinch-me moment every day.”
NK: “I’m so lucky that I found it. It’s such an unstable industry and he’s my solace. Every day we get up in the morning and we go for a walk–and we hold hands. We love holding hands.”
VB: “I love that.”
NK: “The greatest advice I was given was there’s the individual–so there’s the me and the you–and there’s the we. And that’s only you. No one else has what you two create, or what Keith and I create, any married couple who are partners, any people who have chosen to be in a relationship together, we create this, so we decide what this is. If you really like the person–really love them, but really like them, too, god it helps.”
VB: “It really does. Isn’t it great that someone supports us and lets us do what we love?”
NK: “Compromise as well. A lot. It’s always trial and error, and sometimes it’s imbalanced and then it gets back in balance…We don’t gloat about it. People always ask, ‘What’s your marriage advice?’ We don’t have any! Everyone does their own thing and creates it. I’m not some relationship guru. I’m just trying to find my own way. That being said, do you have any marriage advice?”
VB: “You’re totally right. I think it’s about respecting each other. It’s not always easy, and I think if you can find someone you can grow with, then I think you’ve been very blessed. We all change when we get older and the ultimate goal is to find someone we can grow with. I remember being in relationships when I was younger and saying, ‘You’ve changed.’ Well, of course you’ve changed as you get older! That’s what happens. How great if you can find your soulmate who changes and evolves and grows older with you. I feel very lucky.”
NK: “Isn’t it nice to be a love bug?”
VB: “To feel content. I think that’s the ultimate goal. To feel content, have energy, to be ambitious, but feel content and appreciate what you have at the same time.”
NK: “Normal emotions of fear and insecurity–you don’t have to push them down or deny them. They can be there, but you can work through them. That’s what I say to my daughters: there’s a lot going on behind closed doors. But you’ve got to always go, am I able to push through the discomfort? Because the expectation of everything being wonderful all the time–it just doesn’t exist. There will be many things that happen in a journey together and it’s beautiful and that is okay.”
VB: “I feel like you would be a very good therapist.”
NK: “I wouldn’t be! I’d be like help me! I need help.”
VB: “You’ve got it down.”
NK: “Okay, last thing. What are you most proud of?”
VB: “I’m most proud of my family. My children, my relationship for sure. Very, very proud. But my businesses, what I have built over the 17 years–there have been ups, there have been downs, but to be an independent brand and to be in the position that I am, showing in Paris. My business is profitable, which is a huge accomplishment. To be an independent ready-to-wear brand is huge. And the fact that I can say that I can now start building the house that I’ve always dreamed of. It’s been a lot of years of ups and downs. It’s not easy and I have big dreams and so much I want to do and so much I want to say. I’m not just putting my name on this brand. I’m very involved in every element: picking the fabrics, doing the designs, even when it comes to the show, the selection of the girls, the music, the floor they’re walking on. I’m so involved in the labs with the beauty, and working with Jérôme [Épinette] my perfumer. I’m so hands-on and so proud of what I built.”
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Source: USA Today
