With plans to create a lucrative brand under the watchful eye of her ‘momager’ and possessing a surname that will open numerous doors, Harper Beckham’s career path may soon look a lot like Kim Kardashian’s.
The 13-year-old daughter of Victoria and David Beckham took her first bona fide step into the spotlight this week when she presented her mother with a Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year award, even making a speech about her ‘amazing Mummy’.
‘I’m so nervous,’ she told the star-studded audience. ‘Especially as tonight’s a school night. Hopefully, this isn’t going to get me in trouble.
The appearance comes weeks after the teenager attended her mother’s perfume launch in New York and revealed her ambition for the future is to create an ‘amazing’ brand – just like her mother’s eponymous fashion label.
However, there are plenty of other sources of inspiration close to look up to, namely Victoria’s new friend Kim Kardashian, who the former Spice Girl has been growing closer to in recent years.
In a move away from her reality TV roots, Kim, 44, has carved out an impressive career as a businesswoman and is currently at the helm of billion dollar shapewear brand Skims.
It’s a level of success that Victoria is no doubt eyeing up for her youngest child, and thanks to her being friends with the Calabasas family and hiring Kim’s sister Kendall Jenner to walk for her 2023 Paris Fashion Week show, their worlds have merged.
Setting Harper up for a future in business is a canny move by Victoria, and she will be eager to shield her from the pitfalls her eldest son Brooklyn experienced while trying to find his feet. However, according to PR expert Riley Gardiner from No Strings Public Relations, Harper is in a more profitable position than Kim ever was.
Harper Beckham stepped into the spotlight at Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards (pictured) – and it’s just the start for the youngest Beckham child, whose career may shape up to be like Kim Kardashian’s, thanks to her mother Victoria
Despite not having her own Instagram profile, Harper has shared makeup tutorials on her mother’s platforms
Victoria is no doubt taking inspiration from successful Skims entrepreneur Kim Kardashian (pictured with Victoria and Harper)
Brooklyn dabbled with careers in photography, modelling an football, before his current era as a food influencer.
He’s recently launched his own hot sauce, following in his mother’s footsteps by building a brand instead of a showbiz career.
Victoria herself admitted she wasn’t the strongest singer in the Spice Girls and is much more at home in the fashion world, with her label now making a profit for the first time.
While Harper may decide to shun the limelight completely and go to university, setting her up to create a business rather than ‘being a celebrity’ is a canny choice.
‘Comparing Harper Beckham to Kim Kardashian does make sense in terms of brand-building but I think it’s oversimplifying the picture a little bit,’ Riley said.
The PR expert continued: ‘Harper’s ambition to create her own brand, with Victoria’s guidance, goes beyond following in Kim’s footsteps.
‘The similarities are absolutely there – born into money, growing up with a ”momager” – all signs point towards Kim K stardom.
‘But I will say Victoria has gone through all the trials and tribulations of being mega-famous and even growing up in the public eye to a certain extent, only becoming famous in her early 20s.
‘On the surface, I think she seems far more down-to-earth and grounded than Kris Jenner, and likely wants a version of success for her daughter that’s sustainable and most importantly, safe.
‘What sets Harper apart is the network she’s plugged into—not just in the celebrity world, but also in high fashion and serious business. This gives her an advantage over Kim Kardashian, who built her empire initially through reality TV and by riding the wave of controversy.
‘Harper’s biggest challenge will be to embrace her heritage while creating her own authentic voice. Victoria’s involvement may go beyond simple business guidance—it could be about fostering an environment where Harper’s individuality thrives.
‘This isn’t about copying others; it’s about setting a new narrative. For Harper, the future of her brand could focus on sustainability, innovation, or projects that highlight creativity over sensation.’
At just 13, Harper revealed her plans to follow in Victoria’s footsteps during an event in New York to promote her mother’s new perfume Reverie, which translate to daydream from French.
Pictured: Harper and Victoria attend the 2024 Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards, held in partnership with The Platinum Card by American Express, at Claridge’s Hotel
The matriarch took to Instagram to share her daughter’s dream of having an ‘amazing brand’ when she’s older
Harper shared her future aspirations, writing on a piece of card that her dream was that she would ‘create an amazing brand when I’m older’
Harper Seven with her parents Victoria and David Beckham at an event in London to promote her mother’s perfume brand Reverie, which means ‘daydream’
In a word play about the £280 perfume Harper wrote on a piece of card that her dream is to ‘create an amazing brand when I’m older’, as well as wanting ‘everyone to be happy’.
Victoria shared her daughter’s ambitions to the world last month when she posted a picture of the written statement on Instagram. She wrote: ‘Harper Seven following in mummy’s footsteps and putting her hopes and dreams out there.’
It’s a dream that may materailise soon, because Victoria has already incorporated a business called H7B Limited, matching the teenager’s full name, Harper Seven Beckham.
H7B also has the former Spice Girl and a solicitor listed as directors and Victoria will almost certainly take charge of Harper’s social media when she begins using it.
It’s clear Victoria plans to keep family a key part of Harper’s brand, much like Kim, who, from the beginnings of her career, when she first starred on Keeping up with the Kardashians in 2007, made family a key part of her image.
The show began when Kim was just 26, and focused on her life with her sisters Khloe and Kourtney running their shop DASH in their hometown of Calabasas.
Still living at home with her mother Kris, and then step-parent Caitlyn Jenner, as well as then pre-teen half-sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner, family was the forefront of the show. It showed squabbles, birthdays and surprises between the now very famous family.
Now, 17 years on, Kim is a mother-of-four and has kept her ever-growing family a huge part of her brand, featuring them on her TV show and regularly on her Instagram.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s family is key to her brand, and no doubt her upcoming Netflix documentary, which plans to show Harper’s speech at the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year awards and her fitting for attending her mother’s Paris Fashion Week show in September.
It’s telling that Harper will play a prominent role, because she barely featured in Beckham, the four-part docuseries about her father’s football career.
However, during their night out at the awards ceremony earlier this week, Victoria posted to Instagram that the Netflix cameras had been there to ‘capture every special moment’.
It’s yet another synergy with Kim, who first exploded into the limelight on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
The mother-of-four has since gone from reality star to shapewear mogul, while Victoria has hung up her leotard for chic dresses, loved by the likes of Gigi Hadid, Eva Longoria and the Royal family.
Victoria and David daughter Harper swiped her mother’s make-up to film a tutorial for Instagram
She beamed as she danced to the music while adding £30 liquid lifting gel to her eyebrows from the Victoria Beckham Beauty range
50-year-old Victoria revealed the makeup ‘theft’ in a tongue and cheek caption alongside the clip
The brand has found critical success, with her recent collection branded a ‘dance of delight’ after facing financial difficulties.
In December, the brand turned a profit for the first time, 15 years after launching. A carefully orchestrated social media strategy which sees her post make-up tutorial videos on TikTok was seen as a key part of the success.
Meanwhile, her beauty arm, which Victoria began in 2019, has also been a tremendous success – in particular her satin kajal eyeliner, priced at £30.
The luxury label has borrowed more than £30 million from other parts of the Beckham business empire over the past 15 years.
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian’s booming apparel brand Skims has been valued at a whopping $4 billion, just four years after it was created.
The reality star first launched the shapewear line in 2019 with Swedish entrepreneur Jens Grede, 45, and it has since expanded into one of the most popular clothing companies on the globe.
It was initially created as an online retailer that sold undergarments designed to fit people of all sizes of colours, but it now offers a slew of other products like swimsuits, dresses, shorts, T-shirts, pyjamas, hoodies, leggings, and even socks.
‘It has grown quickly and we’re so proud of that,’ Kim told the New York Times recently. ‘We’ve had a really good flow of product launches.’
The designer, 50, revealed Harper is banned from leaving the house wearing make-up, despite the fact she is very talented at it
Harper proved she’s turning into quite the mini fashionista when she stunned at father David’s BECKHAM Netflix premiere, last year
For her 12th birthday, Harper dressed up in a bespoke mini-me frock from VB’s own brand – which she teamed with chunky trainers and a sparkly version of Prada’s £2,100 Re-edition 2000 satin mini bag, as well as a zodiac pendant necklace from Astrid & Miyu
Skims has certainly expanded rapidly. When it first came out in 2019, it was said that it sold more than $2 million of merchandise within 10 minutes.
By 2021, it was valued at $1.6 billion, and in January 2022 it was said to be worth $3.2 billion. Now, it’s estimated to be worth a whopping $4 billion.
A huge part of Kim Kardashian’s success is thanks to her reality TV career, with the businesswoman venturing into brand partnerships too.
Victoria also recently took part in the documentary Beckham, alongside her husband David for Netflix.
This year, Victoria appeared on the Kardashians, in a scene that showed Kim Kardashian, mother Kris Jenner and partner Corey Gamble got stuck in traffic on their way to her Fashion Week Show, resulting in them being 20 minutes late.
Kim has long been a fan of Victoria’s, having grown up admiring The Spice Girls and claimed on the last season of Kardashians that she was once asked to fill in for Posh Spice on tour.
As well as their famous families, both superstars have a scurry of Hollywood pals, with Victoria’s, including Tom Crusie and Eva Longoria, on hand to help secure Harper’s success.
The season five premiere documented the Kardashian clan’s trip to Paris for Fashion Week, where they had been invited to Victoria Beckham’s runway show
Disaster struck when Kim Kardashian, mother Kris Jenner and partner Corey Gamble got stuck in traffic on their way to the show, resulting in them being 20 minutes late (pictured with Anna Wintour and David Beckham)
Once the show kicked off, everyone was able to settle down, with Kendall closing out the VB show in a black suit and boxy black glasses
Keen to introduce her daughter on the world stage, Victoria has let Harper share posts on her Instagram platforms, despite not letting her have a profile of her own.
It’s a move Kris Jenner would approve of, who once revealed the secret to the Kardashians’ success at a WWD Summit. According to Variety, she said in 2017: ‘The whole marketing budget my children need is the price of a smartphone.
‘Social media became the single most important thing that we had as a tool to be able to build and grow a business.’
Harper posted a make-up tutorial on Instagram using VB products, gazing into the camera as she showed off the product before carefully applying and proudly displaying the results.
Despite her skill for applying the products, Victoria revealed that she rarely lets her daughter leave the house with make-up on.
Following Harper’s speech on Tuesday night, Victoria said: ‘Getting up on stage in front of a room full of people is scary and you did it with such poise and such elegance.
‘You teach me to see the world through fresh eyes. And as busy as I am, being a mum is the most important job to me.’
A source told the Mail’s Katie Hind that while Victoria and Harper did contribute to their speeches, they were written by the Victoria’s publicity team.
One source close to the Beckhams said: ‘Victoria is not stupid. You can see what she did there, and you can see why some still call her the momager.’ Whether she’s the best in the business, only time will tell.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk