Former underwear model David Beckham has finally spoken out about the years of intense training and painstaking practice which he had to endure to finally establish himself as England’s undisputed first-choice perfumier. Many industry observers have been surprised at how quickly a comparative newcomer has been able to establish himself as a perfume best-seller, but Beckham is keen to explain that it is training, not luck, which has fuelled his meteoric rise.
Speaking to industry journal Heaven Scent, the tabloid favourite exclusively revealed: ‘People think it’s easy – they see what I can do, my trademark Signature fragrance, and think I just have some God-given talent – they don’t realise the backbreaking hours of work you have to put in to get this good. The years I spent elbow-deep in civet, coming home stinking of musk and lavender, awash with essential oils. Those were tough days for a young man.’
Beckham, whose perfumes have been compared favourably with the great fragrances produced by the famous houses of Dior, Chanel and Alan Shearer, is only regretful that he did not see his true calling earlier. ‘It pains me to think of the years I wasted in dead-end jobs when I could have been perfecting the delicate balance of notes which, symphony-like, make up the perfect aroma,’ he lamented. ‘I could kick an Argentinian, I really could.’
With a sparkle in his ever-youthful eye, the roguish perfumier revealed how, while still perfecting his trade, he took strength from his fragrant wife Victoria, and her heroic struggle to become the globally-respected fashion designer that she is today. “The nights she used to stagger home from her latest catwalk show, the years she spent designing clothes,’ he said. ‘I’ll never forget the day she finally learned to draw.’
14th May, 2011