Victoria Beckham is the latest celebrity to fall foul of public outrage as she stands to rake in taxpayer money to support her loss-making fashion business in the CV lockdown. Staff have been put on furlough which allows her to reclaim 80% of their wages.
The Beckham’s conspicuous wealth, much of it flaunted on Instagram, includes a newly acquired £17 million Miami penthouse, a £25 million mansion in London and a £6 million barn conversion in the Cotswolds. Her handbag collection is reportedly worth £1.5 million; a recent birthday party for their son knocked them back £100k etc etc. Her fashion business, effectively a hobby, hasn’t made a profit since it opened in 2008, lost £12.3 million in 2018 and has been propped up by cash injections from her husband.
Maybe just maybe this is a coronavirus effect that will stick as the punters fall out of love with the crass 1 per centers with their private jets and their obscenely bloated lifestyles, which they display with “don’t you envy-me?” arrogant insensitivity to the downtrodden masses.
She was born 17 April 1974 with an unverified birth time of 10.07am in Hereford, England, and is a sparky Aries Sun opposition Uranus; with her Mercury in an intense opposition to Pluto; her Venus in a frivolous, superficial conjunction with Jupiter in Pisces; and a hard-edged Saturn Mars in Gemini, and an Aquarius Moon.
David, 2 May 1975 6.17 am London, is more practical with a Taurus Sun and Capricorn Moon and an emphasised Saturn on the point of a Cardinal T Square to Jupiter opposition Pluto.
Both of them look to be in for major changes in their lives from 2021 onwards. She has tr Pluto square her Sun and Uranus in 2021/22 which will bring a complete turnaround; with financial hopes sagging more than somewhat. Though she’ll get a lift when her Solar Arc Jupiter moves to oppose her Uranus and conjunct her Sun in 2022/23. That’s followed by a serious downer from tr Neptune square her Mars Saturn in 2024/25.
He’s also got upheavals from tr Uranus conjunct his Sun and an insecure and overly-excitable Solar Arc Mars opposing his Uranus in 2021. But he’ll be pushing ahead confidently nonetheless with tr Pluto square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint in 2021/22. Then tr Pluto squares his Uranus for more turbulence in 2023/24.
If his birth time is sound, then tr Neptune will conjunct his Sun/Moon midpoint from later this month through till early 2022, which suggests disappointments in close relationships and an undermining of bonds. There were reports of marital problems a while back. But this was always the year when there would be more aggravation with tr Uranus conjunct the composite Sun and Mars, on and off into 2021; with more instability in 2022/23 with tr Pluto square the composite Uranus.
It’s an affectionate relationship with a composite Sun Venus Mercury Mars and they’ve stuck it out through thick and thin and stormy patches before, so there’s no saying they will go their separate ways, but their lives do look in some turmoil for some years ahead.
Marjorie, would you mind doing a chart for Stella McCartney please? She’s gone down the same route but at least Victoria Beckham is paying her staff’s wages from her own pocket, I understand. More than Stella is.
Thank you.
My understanding is that Victoria Beckham will claim 80% of staff wages from the taxpayer and pay the remaining 20% out of the business. While Stella McCartney will claim the 80% and not top up the difference. But both are taking monies out that could be put to better use.
Marjorie, could you do a post on Richard Branson. This arrogant oaf thinks he has the right to ask that the British government bail out Virgin airlines otherwise it will collapse. He expected his staff to accept no pay for 8 weeks just as the coronoavirus hit. Apparently, Virgin Atlantic is registered to the British virgin islands and he does not pay local taxes, yet expects a payout. He’s been ridiculed in the House of Lords because of this arrogant stance. God, with his £3.5billion fortune, he must be struggling, poor lamb.
I agree, I think we might be moving, finally, into the era which ‘punters fall out of love with the crass 1 per centers with their private jets and their obscenely bloated lifestyles, which they display with “don’t you envy-me?” arrogant insensitivity to the downtrodden masses.’ This virus has also exposed many well-knowns into two camps. Those who have showered huge generosity to help others out under these hard times (Duke of Westminster, Oprah, Taylor Swift, etc). And those who just don’t give a toss (Kim Kardashian, “if you buy my products I will donate some of my money”), Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Mike Ashley, etc.
Yes, the microinfluencers are likely to increase their “influence” I agree – and this might be a reflection of Saturn in Aquarius? This trend is quite big when it comes to domestic life as well – the so-called “cleanfluencers” who promote cleaning and organising at home are doing well too.
As for Victoria Beckham, it may well emerge that her business is mostly a vanity project, and that despite appearances she isn’t doing so well. Without her husband, who seems to be much easier to like, who knows? It will be interesting to see what the prolonged transit of Mars in Aries produces in her chart. If the birth time is reliable, then it will be squaring tr Pluto in her 7th house, while close to her Sun opposition Uranus. There are also the squares with Jupiter – first one in August with Mars conjunct her Aries Sun. Pretty feisty.
Her business was reportedly already near insolvency in December 2019, after making about 16 million US$ in loss, and that she, gasp, had to fire her chauffeur! I guess that even rich and thin, longwaisted (reported, when dating Harry, Meghan Markle didn’t wear her dresses much even if they were friends, because she is shortwaisted and they wouldn’t fit her) people only have limited use for fitted strech-crepe dresses, and sales of her extremely bland, over priced licensed beauty products have not covered losses. I don’t think plummeting oil prices help her brand – or most luxury brands for that matter, but some will be hit more than others – either.
Fire her chauffeur?! What a sacrifice! It will be interesting to see what happens with the luxury market, and the whole fashion industry. On the one hand, we may all buy less but better quality, on the other people will have less disposable income all round. This industry is terrible for the environment and workers’ rights, and needs radical change. At the luxury brands end, I read that the Chinese buy 33% at the moment. I wonder if this will continue. Chinese tourism has also become a major money spinner – again, I wonder if this will continue?
My clothes buying has dwindled to almost nothing this year and the ones I am buying are secondhand – I’m good with a sewing machine and can alter a garment and update it. The fashion industry needs to take a long, hard look at itself. It’s not just the waste of overproduction and the working conditions of low paid workers but the whole promotion of size 00 and using adolescent models who are pressured to look skeletal when it comes to promoting collections at the higher end fashion shows. I’m aware that younger designers are moving towards more diversity in their shows which is a good thing. But the fashion industry is still unreconstructed and it’s high time it woke up.
Agree … Fashion industry and showbiz have an environmental impact ..(interesting when many of fashion and showbiz people have strong opinion on climate change ) .. Can argue fashion/showbiz are far behind other industries in their contribution to climate change, but the waste and environmental impact activities in these industries is easy to change …Eg. fashion brands destroy tens of millions of pounds worth of goods every year, showbiz people dont reuse their clothes etc.
Yes I agree with you. I suppose the industry might be ruled by Neptune? Venus must be in there somewhere too. The waste, carelessness, and various kinds of cruelty it involves seem to slip and slide away, so I guess Neptune is around somewhere in all this.
I went to a high end fashion show a couple of years ago, invited by a friend. It was very shocking to see the skeletal models, their hip bones sticking out sharply through the fabric of the garments they wore. Arms like bones with skin. Quite horrible. They weren’t always this skinny, if you look at old photos. It’s such a bizarre and disturbing trend. I wonder if it shows up in any charts for the industry?
I’ve not been buying anything either, just shopping my own wardrobe! Luckily, with warmer weather, I can return to last summer’s things which are still a novelty at the moment, including some items that are more than a decade old. I don’t even have an aspect between Venus and Saturn either.
So out of curiosity I just looked briefly at Wilhelmina Cooper, the model who founded the hugely successful Wilhelmina Models in 1967. She was born 1st May, 1939. Wilhelmina was 5′ ll” tall, and her model measurements were 38, 24, 36. She liked to say she was “built like a woman”. There’s a grand trine in earth – Mars, Neptune, Uranus. Mars is also square Saturn. Venus in Aries squares Chiron in Cancer. She was born with Uranus in Taurus, so maybe things will circle back – Neptune was in Virgo in 1939, at 20 when Wilhelmina was born. Now it opposes from Pisces. Time to challenge those mid century trends set in motion by that generation?
And just for comparison, today’s model average measurement is 34, 24, 34 at around 5′ 11″. Ridiculous.
Thank you Jane, most interesting. Yes, I’ve heard that young models are required to have a hip measurement of under 34 inches. Let us hope for more diversity on the catwalk as we enter a more Aquarian age.
“Maybe just maybe this is a coronavirus effect that will stick as the punters fall out of love with the crass 1 per centers with their private jets and their obscenely bloated lifestyles, which they display with “don’t you envy-me?” arrogant insensitivity to the downtrodden masses.”
Uranus is Taurus kicking in? Marketers in at least Europe, Japan and Northern America were already shifting away from these huge influencer account with millions of followers for a couple of years, because digital marketing analysis tools have developed and revealed that having ones’ product and services promoted by Beckhams and Kardashians does not usually bring the wanted return. Now, marketers prefer building their campaigns around “microinfluencers”, who might have as few as 1000 Instagram followers, but in right groups. So, it seems some truly big names had already “peaked” by the time coronavirus came around
People such as Victoria Beckham, who do have a product or service to sell, could, in theory, fare better. But when those product and services rely on image, it becomes risky as well, and it seems most influencers are struggling with this, right now. One exception would be Chiara Ferragni, who was one of the first wave Big “fashion bloggers” 10 years ago, and constantly ridiculed. But apparently, she has been incredible sensitive to situation in Italy, and raised, with her rapper husband, over 3 million euros for the biggest hospital in Milan in 24 hours. She was born on May 7th, 1987, so maybe Taurus Sun helping here? Another name from Fashion World who has been stellar in all this is Giorgio Armani – he was the first one to cancel his show after the first cases were reported DURING The Milan Fashion Week -, and has been not only incredibly generous towards hospitals, but genuinely concerned for his employees, all through this.