Posh & Becks’s Invasion of America

In North America, David Beckham is generally known as the guy that is married to Posh, a member of the popular 90s girl group, the Spice Girls. In Europe and the rest of the world, Posh, whose real name is Victoria, is known as the ex-pop singer who is married to David Beckham, one of the most skilled and prolific soccer players ever. Together, they are a pop cultured iconic force that the world has rarely seen before. And now, they are taking us by storm in North America.

David Beckham tells the story in his autobiography, the story of sitting in a bland hotel room somewhere in Eastern Europe in 1996, with his English national soccer teammate Gary Neville. Bored to tears, the pair decided to watch a music video show. While a Spice Girls video was playing, Beckham said to Neville: “I really fancy her, that one Posh. She is the one for me, she is the woman I will marry.” Neville laughed out loud, since Beckham had never formally met Victoria Adams. But in March of 1999, the couple had their first child. And on July 4th, 1999, the soccer star of Manchester United and England’s national squad and the sexy singer of a world famous pop group, married. It was a union made in paparazzi heaven: the gorgeous young singer and the incredibly handsome and talented soccer hero.

Since then, the pair have carved a niche in the pop culture consciousness of the world. They have been photographed millions of times and have, whether we like it or not, become style icons. In celebrity-mad Britain, the couple appeared in tabloids and gossip magazines on a daily basis. When Beckham decided to play for Real Madrid in 2003, he and his family moved to Spain, where the photographers continued to follow and press attention intensified.

Over the years, Beckham and his wife have involved themselves in numerous projects that have garnered them much attention and a strong, loyal fan base. Young men from around the world often mimic the latest – and continually changing – hairstyles of Beckham. His fans also popularized his line of sportswear that beared his name and a distinctively cool dragon logo.

Most recently, David and Victoria have branched from their specific fields of soccer and singing into the world of fashion and fragrance design and like everything this pair does – they are doing it big.

In 2006, Victoria launched the women’s clothing and denim label, DVB Style, and with David, released his and hers fragrances, Intimately Beckham. David did launch David Beckham cologne a bit earlier on, but Intimately was created with a more personal approach. Victoria was very hands-on in this high profile project, from having her say in the design of the bottles to her choosing the tint of the fragrances (hers is pale pink while his is a dark tobacco). Victoria also designed a line of sunglasses, which she often sports at her hubby’s games. The various styles are all oversized and funky while at the same time, she asserts, entirely practical. Victoria has also worked tirelessly on a line of ladies handbags that she has been designing in conjunction with the Japan-based design house Samantha Thavasa. But of the many projects she has on the go, she is most passionate about her line of jeans. She has been working on this line of high quality denim for quite awhile, even spending time in Winnipeg, where the jeans are manufactured.

As for David, the style display he put on most recently was at the highly anticipated press conference in L.A., where he officially announced that he will be playing for the Major League Soccer (MLS) team The Los Angeles Galaxy. The new Galaxy uniforms were also unveiled – and within a couple of days, orders for over 250,000 Beckham/Galaxy shirts were ordered from all over the world. At $89 US each, the money made just from the Beckham replica jerseys could easily pay for David’s salary (Beckham replica Real Madrid shirts sold well over 1.5 million copies, earning the team what they paid him many times over). Much has been made about the fact that Beckham signed a contract that would pay him an estimated $250 million over the five-year duration of the contract but that is not entirely accurate – the fact is, Beckham could potentially make even more! In truth, the Galaxy is only paying (only!) just over $6 million per year, with the rest of the guaranteed amount coming from sponsorship arrangements with companies such as Adidas, as well as the percentage of replica shirts and other logo wear and merchandise bearing his name or image.

The Beckham family (with children Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz), have settled in a beautiful 13,000 square foot Rococo mansion in Beverly Hills – and they are surrounded by A-list neighbours. Close friends Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes live near, while Leonardo DiCaprio’s home is down the street one way and Tobey McGuire lives up the street the other way.

But amidst all the TV appearances, the endorsements and the sexy photo shoots for magazines like W – what brought Beckham here to North America was his abilities on the soccer field. He is a very skilled player and while cynics may say he came here for the money, he actually still does have a lot to offer on the field – provided the off-the-field activities don’t prove too distracting.

Whether David Beckham can single-handedly raise the profile of soccer in North America, or whether Posh and the rest of the Spice Girls can kick-start their singer careers during their much-hyped reunion tour, remains to be seen. But what we can be sure of is that we will be seeing a whole lot of Posh and Becks as their L.A. adventure unfolds.

Gallery 1: Actor Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Victoria Beckham, David Beckham and Jada Pinkett Smith arrive at the “Beckham Welcome To L.A. Party” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Jean Baptiste Lacroix
Gallery 3: Soccer superstar David Beckham showing his new jersey at the “David Beckham Official Presentation” press conference at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Photo by Gregg DeGuire
Gallery 5: David and Victoria Beckham at the Sport Industry Awards at Old Billingsgate in London. Photo by Simon Robling/©FAMOUS
Gallery 6: Victoria Beckham, Melanie Chisholm,Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown of The Spice Girls at a press conference at the O2 Arena in London where they announced a 12 date World tour.
Photo by Simon Gross/©FAMOUS
Gallery 7: David Beckham at ITV’s Greatest Britons 2007 at London Television Studios in London. ©FAMOUS