Give us a twirl, flower girl

Having just added a “clean” cosmetics line to her growing empire, it was ironic that Victoria Beckham was targeted for a demonstration by Extinction Rebellion.

Outside her venue, in the grand surroundings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Whitehall, a few dozen protesters stood silently as their spokesman recited a litany of sobering statistics about the fashion industry.

It was a contender for the politest demonstration in history – partially, perhaps, because many of those attending the show sympathise with their sentiments.

In her show, there was a lingerielike lightness to many of the clothes in the spring/summer 2020 collection. Airy maxi dresses, suspended from vermicelli shoulder straps, wafted around the models’ bodies in clouds of purple, aqua and silk crêpe de chine, often with ruffles spiralling across the bias.

Beckham accessorised these with chunky gold chain jewellery (the biggest trend in jewellery now) and clashing high-heeled shoes, but back in her showroom, where the commercial collection awaits the buyers’ orders, there were plenty of flat shoes, included a bow embellished Lady Di pump.

Hard to imagine Beckham herself wearing these. But she’s nothing if not a chameleon. Currently, she’s into aviator spectacles, which, she insists, are not merely a style statement: “I can’t see without them.”

Colour and dresses are features of the Beckham spring/summer offer – as they are in many shows at London Fashion Week. They looked appealingly easy to wear but were amazingly complicated to make, according to Beckham. Some came with pockets – no bag required.

This is one of the most relaxed collections she’s done, a long way from the body-con dresses she started out with a decade ago. “I think you can be sexy without wearing tight, short clothes,” she says. “Comfort and ease are a big part of sexiness.”

There weren’t many patterns, apart from the occasional magnified flower and the tiny checks on some elegantly tailored trouser suits, layered under wool trench coats.

Something for pretty much everyone here, although not, in all likelihood, Extinction Rebellion.

Victoria Beckham with her daughter, Harper, at the former Spice Girl’s spring-summer 2020 show for London Fashion Week. Eight-year-old Harper, wearing a floral print dress, joined her father David and brothers on the front row for the show

The Beckham family at Victoria Beckham’s show, including David with daughter Harper, sons Romeo, Brooklyn and Cruz, alongside British and American Vogue editors Edward Enninful, left, and Anna Wintour, right