Lara Barrio is new Victoria Beckham design director

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 28, 2022

Salvatore Ferragamo's Lara Barrio has become design director at Victoria Beckham, according to reports, with her first collection debuting for pre-spring 2023.

The well-travelled Barrio has been design head at Salvatore Ferragamo since 2019 and has also worked in senior roles at both Acne and Loewe during her career.

It’s a key role at Victoria Beckham given that it has been transforming itself in recent periods. It has consolidated its offer in the past year, dropping the ‘Victoria’ label for a single label under the pop-star-turned-entrepreneur’s full name. The company also cut the number of items on offer and upped the casualwear proportion as it adapted to new-normal consumer tastes.

Price points, meanwhile, have been shifted downwards to a more affordable (but still luxury) level. It also comes as the brand prepares to unveil its new handbag line in Paris under the aegis of designer Raphaelle Hanley.

Victoria Beckham had a tough pandemic, like many smaller luxury companies. But while its turnover fell, it reduced its losses as well and it used the opportunity to restructure and keep careful control of costs.