Victoria Beckham Says 'Fashion Industry Has Huge Role to Play' in Support of Black Lives Matter Movement

Georgia Slater
·5 min read

Victoria Beckham is promising to make her fashion line more inclusive after taking time to reflect on her brand.

On Friday, the designer, 46, shared a lengthy post on Instagram about her eponymous fashion line, explaining that she has "taken a step back this week" to focus on how she can incite change in her brand to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

"It’s clear that it’s each of our responsibilities to speak out and I want to use my platform for education, conversation and change. The fashion industry has a huge role to play, and for me, it starts with representation, both within my business and who we work with externally," Beckham wrote.

Her post laid out the changes that she hopes to make to diversify the company, beginning with an "internal working group," which will be responsible for looking "at everything from our teams and talent to our casting, suppliers and partners."

"This group will help hold the business accountable and ensure our short and long-term actions reflect our learnings," Beckham added.

View this post on Instagram

I’ve taken a step back this week to focus on the tragic events that have been highlighted recently. Watching things unfold and learning more about the Black Lives Matter movement, I’ve been truly sickened by how deeply ingrained racism is in our society. It’s clear that it’s each of our responsibilities to speak out and I want to use my platform for education, conversation and change. The fashion industry has a huge role to play, and for me, it starts with representation, both within my business and who we work with externally. I’ve always aimed for inclusivity, but we all need to look inwards and be better. At Victoria Beckham, we’ve set up an internal working group as a first step and will provide additional support to ensure that we are listening to each other, discussing the issues, identifying unconscious bias in ourselves and ensuring our short and long-term actions reflect all our learnings. Whilst things won’t change or be solved in a day, we clearly can’t wait another day to start and I am absolutely committed to being better and doing more, both personally and professionally. I hope you all share my sentiment and are doing the same with your friends, family, brands and businesses so that we all play our part in this vital issue. x vb #blacklivesmatter

A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Jun 5, 2020 at 6:21am PDT

The brand will also implement additional team trainings to learn how to better listen and support one another, as well as to discuss how to identify "unconscious bias in ourselves and the wider business."

"Whilst things won’t change or be solved in a day, we clearly can’t wait another day to start and I am absolutely committed to being better and doing more, both personally and professionally," the mother of four continued.

RELATED: Black-Owned Food, Fashion, Home and Beauty Businesses You Can Shop Now to Show Your Support

WWD/Shutterstock

The star also encouraged other brands and businesses to promote similar sentiments to ensure that "we all play our part in this vital issue." Over the past week, Beckham has been speaking out about the Black Lives Matter movement on social media, sharing how "deeply moved" she was by the "tragic death of George Floyd."

Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old black man, died on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes while three others stood idly by.

"I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and as a mother of four, what’s struck me the most is how important it is to not sit by and watch from the sidelines without doing anything," Beckham said on Instagram.

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It’s impossible not to be deeply moved by the tragic death of George Floyd. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and as a mother of four, what’s struck me the most is how important it is to not sit by and watch from the sidelines without doing anything. So as a family, we spent a lot of time this weekend talking and reading about the issue. At first, it was about how shocked and devastated we all are that this still happens in 2020, but has turned more to how we can be actively anti-racist, how we can stand in solidarity with the black community (not just right now, but always), and how we can make a difference. We signed the petition for George Floyd as a starting point, and I’ve found that @colorofchange, @naacp and @theconsciouskid are good resources for listening and educating ourselves. As a mother, I was also so, so moved by the eye-opening lyrics to @keedronbryant’s song. In addition to standing in solidarity, it’s our responsibility to speak out now and use our platforms for education, conversation and change. X VB

A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Jun 1, 2020 at 12:23am PDT

She shared that she and her family "spent a lot of time this weekend talking and reading about the issue."

"At first, it was about how shocked and devastated we all are that this still happens in 2020, but has turned more to how we can be actively anti-racist, how we can stand in solidarity with the black community (not just right now, but always), and how we can make a difference," Beckham added.

On Thursday, the former Spice Girls band member posted that she and her family would be observing a moment of silence for eight minutes, 46 seconds — the amount of time the officer pinned Floyd to the ground.

The officer involved, Derek Chauvin, has since been fired and charged with second-degree murder, while the three other officers, who were also fired, were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. None of the accused has entered a formal plea.

To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:

  • Campaign Zero (joincampaignzero.org) which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.

  • ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities.

  • National Cares Mentoring Movement (caresmentoring.org) provides social and academic support to help black youth succeed in college and beyond.