This weekend it was announced that Victoria Beckham is the number one entrepreneur in the UK following the stratospheric rise of her fashion label, which is worth of £30 million after only five years of trading.
It comes with little surprise as Victoria has always had Girl Power on her agenda - from her days whooping up the world to ‘Spice up your life’ and kicking some arse as one fifth of the biggest-selling British group since The Beatles, to her appointment as UNAids international goodwill ambassador earlier this year.
She’s been an unstoppable high-achiever since the get-go and we don’t doubt her brand will continue to take over the world. Here's ten more times Victoria Beckham has meant business…
1.The Power Point
Victoria Beckham perfecting her point in the Spice Girls and Alan Sugar half-heartedly doing his
VB was doing her ‘Girl Power Needs You’ point long before Alan Sugar was waving his finger saying ‘you’re fired’. A whole generation of feminists grew up perfecting that don’t mess with me stance.
2.When the Spice Girls sacked Simon Fuller
Music manager Simon Fuller after eating Spice-flavour humble pie
The Spice Girls infamously sacked their own manager early in their career because, quite frankly, they didn’t want anyone telling them what to do. Sure, this was a group decision, but the Spiceys always made it known that they each had a strong individual voice, so you can bet VB didn’t sit there saying ‘whevs, I’ll go with what you guys think’. She’s also got the sense not to burn any business bridges, and Fuller is very much a prime puppet-master in Beckham Enterprises to this day.
3.Driving the bus in Spice bus like a no-nonsense demon
'Hold onto your knickers girls!' - VB to the rescue in Spiceworld The Movie
The girls’ bus driver Meatloaf was nowhere to be seen at a crucial moment in Spiceworld The Movie, and who was it that took charge and got Spice Girls to the Albert Hall in time for their sell-out show while the rest of the group flapped about? You guessed it, VB.
4.The Birth of Brand Beckham
David and Victoria Beckham sporting matching polonecks and flashy jewellery as they announce their engagement in 1998
David and Victoria looked very much in love when they posed for their engagement photos back in 1998, but little did we know at the time, a lot of matching outfits, as well as 15 years and counting of marriage, would follow those his'n'hers black polonecks. At this moment, the global superbrand that is Beckham began.
5.Learning from the masters
Victoria Beckham watching a Chanel show with L'Wren Scott in 2006
It may have been nearly a decade post Spice Girls that Victoria Beckham unleashed her luxury label on an unexpecting world, but she'd been taking this fashion lark pretty seriously for quite some time. Even before she was seen lording it up with her 'I ain't no WAG' pixie crop on the front row at a Marc Jacobs show in 2008, she could be seen soaking up wisdom from the greats, such as she is here with designer L'Wren Scott at a Chanel show in 2006.
6.Setting up shop in LA with attitude
Not only did Victoria Beckham prove she's the boss of the family when she chronicled their move to LA in Coming to America, she did so as hilariously as anyone who knows her sense of humour could hope. Throughout the show she laughs at every stereotype she's had thrown at her over the years, joking about her breast implants and taking Perez Hilton on about calling her an Alien, and it's clear that the bottom line is, 'so you wanna take the piss out of me? Guess what, I can do it better'. Clap-hands emoji x 20, VB.
7.Earning rave reviews for her first fashion show in New York
Dresses from Victoria Beckham's first fashion presentation
The fashion world secretly wanted Victoria Beckham to fail when she launched her label in New York in 2008, but then Style.com described the 'sophistication of [the collection's] cut and fit', and just about every other fashion editor raved about it, so everyone had to eat their hats. And nothing says 'put that in your pipe and smoke it', to the haters like a £30 million turnover five years later.
8.Looking like a chic add-on at the premiere of the Spice Girls musical
VB showing face at the Viva Forever premiere.
Our love for all of the Spice Girls and their latter-day ventures remains true to this day, but there's no denying that Victoria's done the best out of the lot of them - even Beyonce has worn her dresses. This couldn't have been clearer when she appeared to be an add-on at the group photocall for the ill-fated Spice Girls musical, Viva Forever, in late 2012. It's not that she she was being a dick about it, she still turned up, she was just quietly-but-firmly saying this isn't my gig anymore. The fact that she did so in too-cool-to-care tailoring while Geri Halliwell came dressed as Cinderella only hammered home the point.
9.Showing her kids what work is at NYFW
The Beckham family front row at NYFW [@VVFriedman Twitter]
At her SS15 show, all VB's kids could be seen sat front row, not because they love the glitz of NYFW, but because she wants them to know what work is. 'Mummy works, and Daddy works. We think that's a positive message, and we wanted the boys to see what it is that Mummy does, because they'd never been to a show before', she said backstage, and this demonstration of her strong work ethic being passed on to her children would probably explain why @brooky_becks is one of the less obnoxious rich kids of Instagram.
10. Attending a UN Event in New York while her husband dealt with her shop opening in London
Appearing as UNAids goodwill ambassador in New York in 2014
After she was named as UNAids goodwill ambassador, Victoria Beckham flew to New York to represent that role, while David charmed the press at her London shop opening, showing what a multi-faceted and powerful career she has created. Of the role, she said 'I'm a mother, I'm a woman... I want to do whatever it is that I can do to raise awareness', proving that making money isn't all that her ventures are about. Girl Power indeed.