Pouting 'Posh' star, to globetrotting footballer’s wife, to fashion icon and designer...now Victoria Beckham wants to be 'nice'

She became known in the Nineties as the pouting 'Posh' popstar.

The next decade saw her transform into a permatanned, globetrotting footballer’s wife. Now Victoria Beckham wants to be known for her clothing designs – but, more than that, just for being “nice”.

While revealing a new line of fashion creations which are now garnering increasingly critical and commercial success, Beckham has also offered a rare insight into her perception of how she has been judged and often derided as one of Britain’s most ubiquitous celebrities.

"Everyone thinks I'm going to be such a cow. I get it - I feel the same way when I see the pictures," she told an audience at the Vogue Festival in London yesterday, insisting: “I’m nice.”

On stage in a design of her own creation and a towering pair of needle-thin heels, Beckham displayed a wit and warmth that is not often associated with her, saying “a lot of people had pre-conceptions” when she announced she was entering the fashion trade as a serious designer.

"I didn't set out to prove those wrong, just to prove to myself that I could do it. I'm a perfectionist and probably a complete pain in the neck to work with. I want to challenge myself fashion-wise then I get naked and make clothes on myself."

While the familiar narrative of the latter may allow a former popstar a spell in fashion, rarely has it been done with the level of good taste that Brand Beckham has come to exemplify - certainly in comparison with Geri Halliwell’s designs for Next or Emma Bunton’s childrenswear line for Argos.

Answering questions from Vogue’s editor Alexandra Shulman, Beckham refused to douse speculation that she may take her clothes to the high-street in the future - something that those who cannot afford her £1,000 upward designs would surely welcome. “I’m a perfectionist, and a bit of a control freak,” said the 39-year-old, who oversees every aspect of her business, but added: “The children are my priority.”

Singling out her oldest son Brooklyn, 14, on the front row, she continued: “They always have been and always will be. It’s no different for me to any working mum. I constantly feel guilty - it’s getting the balance right. I often feel like I’m losing the plot - we all do. I love women and want them to feel empowered, confident, beautiful. I think, in general, there needs to be more women supporting women.”