Victoria Beckham reveals debut London store

Artist turned designer Victoria Beckham has unveiled her first store on Dover Street in London, which is said to convey her vision on the store floor. Beckham's first standalone store incorporates her dream and has more in common with a modern art museum than a traditional luxury designer store.

“I wanted a space that was conceptual — but also warm and welcoming,” said Beckham to WWD during a tour of her store, prior to its official opening later this week.

“There are a lot of people — the general public — who’ve continued on this journey with me, and I want everybody to feel welcome, whether they're going to buy something, or whether they just want to come and check out the architecture. And I really wanted people to get a sense of me the minute walked through the door,” added the designer.

Beckham brings her vision to life in debut Dover Street store

The entire store's content, ranging from her entire product offering, to the store's interior details, to the hangars and fitting in the dressing room where selected by Beckham. The new store does lack one common feature that is present in nearly all store – a cash register. The designer has instead opted to offer all transactions via in-store iPads, there by getting rid of the need for “ugly” cash desks.

A large concrete sliding door is the store's entrance and passersby are able to look directly into the store's lower shop floor, which features the label's accessories, VVB and Denim collections. The upper levels are home to Beckham's ready-to-wear line and large dressing rooms, which feature bottle-green glass doors. “There’s lots of room to hang clothes — and flattering lighting. I wanted the store to look beautiful, but I also wanted it to work as well,” noted the designer.

The store's polished concrete staircase which connects all three levels is one of the dominant features in the store. It's floors mirror the staircase and are complimented by stainless steel counters, metal clothing rails and golden chain hangers, whilst ceilings are decked out with stainless steel mirrors.

The store's lower floor level is the most open of the them and offers Beckham a lot of freedom to utilize the space in different ways. “I think I will do presentations there, whether it’s trunk shows, or it will be a case of me just turning up and having appointments with customers that want to see me, to place orders with me specifically...This does feel like my second home.”

Part of the lower floor level space will also be used as a stockroom, for both the store as well as the label's website. “For the first time, it’s my designs, my vision. This is how I feel the clothes should be showcased, how I like them to be seen. That’s been very exciting for me — to be able to buy what I believe the customer wants.” Her vision is part of the reason why the shop floor remains so open, so it can change and keep up with the “constant flow” of new products.

“We can play with how we merchandise things, and I think that’s a very modern way of shopping. So hopefully, every time somebody comes to the store it’s going to be a slightly different experience.” Beckham's debut store is set to open its doors on Thursday, September 25.

Photos: Anna Bauer, WWD.