“When I think of Reebok, I think of the ’90s and basketball—and therefore of course I think of Shaq!” says Victoria Beckham of her muse for her new Reebok x Victoria Beckham merch collection, NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal. And when Beckham first met O’Neal for a soft launch of her debut sportswear offering for the athletics label in April, even her signature teetering heels couldn’t dampen her awe at his stature. “I actually climbed a ladder to get to his height,” she remembers. “We had so much fun together.”
The pieces in Beckham’s first offering include tees, hoodies, and socks emblazoned with O’Neal’s iconic dunking silhouette in black, white, and red (the latter of which is available exclusively at Beckham’s Dover Street shop in London and victoriabeckham.com), priced from US$50 and topping out at US$200.
The design process began with a visit to the Reebok archives in Boston in November, according to Beckham, who spent several days combing through vintage pieces and styles from the 1990s. “For me, no other sportswear brand says ’90s like Reebok does,” she says. “This capsule really represents a celebration of that era and the great heritage pieces I discovered in those archives.” The simple palette brings a streetwear vibe to the designs, while a discreet VB on the sleeve lends a posh signature. “The archive was the starting point, [but] looking at key basketball motifs and taking the logos and graphics of that time express an understated street style,” Beckham explains.
Another source of inspiration? Beckham’s own kids. “I see through what my own children are wearing, that the ’90s are a moment in time that’s really resurfacing,” she says. “I love that and I want to celebrate that.” It’s that mindset that will carry over into Beckham’s full collection for Reebok, due out later this year. “The unisex approach to the Merch collection, and the nods to streetwear that are present in this capsule, are important elements that I will take through,” she says.
Beckham slapped O’Neal’s iconic number, 34, on the back of her merch drop. But what would the designer’s own digits be if she played sports? “Ten!,” she says. “I am about to celebrate 10 years of my brand, [and] it feels like my lucky number at the moment.”
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This article first appeared on Vogue.com
