One minute he is still cruising the streets of Miami in a co-designed Maserati MC20, the next he is sitting in a comfortable gold velvet chair in the cinema of Amsterdam's Soho House, for an interview about His Style and other important matters: mister David Beckham. Football hero, businessman, philanthropist, style icon -and thus figurehead for several lifestyle brands- paid a flash visit to Amsterdam as part of his ambassadorship for watch brand Tudor.
Text: Karine Bloem
Who is David Beckham?
This name really needs little introduction. The former professional and elite footballer who started his successful football career as a midfielder with Britain's Manchester United, married Spice Girl (and now successful fashion entrepreneur) Victoria Adams in 1999. Together they have three sons and a daughter. Beckham's career and private life have been widely reported in the press for years, but it is still fun to find yourself in the same room with the best man for once. So it happened last November when David Beckham acted at an event organised by watch brand Tudor.
The attending journos (including GW) were invited to the fancy Soho House for 'A Night with David Beckham'. During the drinks afterwards, Beckham bravely posed with invitees in front of the photowall, something your reporter unfortunately had to skip. But in the short time we had, we got to know the man David Beckham as a likeable, somewhat timid man who calmly answers all questions put to him.
Life after football
"What my life has been like since I stopped playing football? That mainly revolves around teaching kids to play football and trying to save football teams that are doing badly. There is now a series about this on Disney+: Save my Squad. Before that, I went back to East London, where I grew up myself, to coach a team of under-14 boys. I acted more as a mentor than a coach. After all, it's more about what the boys do outside the football pitch than inside it.
It brought me into their homes, I ate with them, saw how they lived and their other talents. One of the boys turned out to be a true poet. He put into words what young people of his generation were struggling with. Things like poverty, racism... To be able to see how the boys developed and the cooperation with Disney was a dream come true for me. And beautiful projects will follow."
Go-getter
"Perseverance, dedication, hard work. It's in my DNA. I grew up in a working-class area of East London in a hardworking family. My parents still work, it's in their nature and in doing so they set the right example for me. Within my own company, I am the first to arrive at the office and the last to leave.
During my football career, I have been able to be part of great teams and again, I am lucky with the people I work with. Our children have also hopefully been taught that they are not handed everything on a silver platter and that they have to really work to achieve their goals."
#borntodare
David Beckham has been the face of Tudor for five years and is regularly challenged for the #borntodare campaigns: "From the first conversation, I knew I wanted to work with this brand. The past five years have already been insane and I have been firmly out of my comfort zone on several occasions. In everything we did with Tudor do, from the craft to these kinds of new ideas, the level is very high. I am happy with that and so I hope the collaboration will continue for a long time."
Pushing boundaries
Beckham continued: "There have been a number of #borntodare campaigns where I really had to cross a threshold, but which I ended up really enjoying. The snowboarding campaign was a piece of cake for me; besides motorcycling, that is one of my favourite pastimes. But freediving was totally new for me. I was absolutely not eager to do it, because I am afraid of the ocean and sharks. But at the same time, I felt it was a challenge I had to face.
Filming took place near Miami, where we went quite far out on the water. A big storm had just hit, so you can imagine the ocean was quite choppy. I am not a diver and with freediving you really go next level. Despite the enormous challenge involved, we got some great footage out of it. I was guided by Morgan Bourc'his, former world freediving champion. (This Frenchman has also been Tudor's partner for years -red).
The first thing he asked me was, "When was the last time you held your breath and for how long? That was with the kids in the pool and no longer than 20 seconds. To which he replied, 'We're going for the 2.5 minutes now.' We spent hours practising in the pool and eventually I managed to hold my breath for three minutes."
Style
"Fashion has always been important to me, I like to look good. Looking back, I have committed quite a few fashion blunders. But well, who hasn't. Over the years, I have worn many different outfits, experimented with different hairstyles, so I've always been into it.
My style advice for men would be: keep it simple and classic. Although based on the aforementioned fashion flaws -a sarong, an all denim and even all leather look- you might not immediately take my word for it (laughs). My motto is that you should always have a few good classic pieces in your closet: nice jeans, white T-shirt, sturdy Chelsea boots and not forgetting a few classic suits."
Nostalgic value
"There are few objects that I value much, except my grandfather's flask. He was a great whisky lover and had been given a flask by his father. After his death about 10 years ago, he handed it over to me. Cups, trophies and medals from my football career mean a lot especially to my children. Our sons have deliberately yet to experience many victories; our daughter is just too young for that."
From Modena to Miami
For cars, Beckham has a soft spot. He has collaborations with several lifestyle brands including Italian car brand Maserati with whom he co-designed his own car. On this, he says: "I have always been a car enthusiast, so to collaborate on the creation of my own MC20 through Fuoriserie's customisation programme was an interesting experience.
After all, cars are all about individual taste, whether it's the model, the colour or small personal details on the inside. It was great to work with the Maserati team to create a unique car inspired by my second home, Miami and my football club there. And it is a joy to be behind the wheel. Before the car could be presented to the rest of the world, there was a test drive on the Modena circuit. I felt like that teenager again, kept driving around and didn't want to stop!"
Watches
"My interest in watches was sparked at a young age. I used the first salary from Manchester United to buy a nice watch even though I couldn't really afford it yet... So my parents were not too happy about that.
I was always fascinated by my grandfather's Rolex, which he only wore on special occasions. Then I was allowed to put it on for a while. Then I realised it was something special. The moment I could buy a more expensive watch, I went to look in that street in London where there are many watch shops. Most were still above budget, but at one of the shops I fitted a pair of Rolexes.
Until my eye fell on a particularly beautiful specimen which at first I thought was also a Rolex... It turned out to be a Tudor. I couldn't buy it at the time but it was my first introduction to this brand.
Watches make or break your outfit; it's either the first thing I put on when I head out the door in the morning, or the last thing I add to my outfit for the evening.
The choice of which watch depends on the outfit. But I also like to wear a sporty watch, such as the Tudor Pelagos, with a more formal look. It is a watch that goes with everything. I usually choose classic colours like navy blue and black. The vast majority of my straps are rubber because of its comfort and because it is a lightweight material. A steel strap is of course very chic so I like to alternate depending on the occasion."
Borrowed well
"All three of my sons regularly 'borrow' watches from my collection. But not only that; they also like to dive into my wardrobe. Do they consider me their style example? No way, a long time ago. They just like wearing my stuff. Recently, I was out to dinner with Victoria and Harper, when Romeo called to ask if he could borrow my black flares.
I teased him by saying that was fine. To which he responded with: 'Then where are they? They're not hanging in your closet!' I said, 'That's right, those trousers are still in Miami.' After all, they can borrow anything they want from me, provided they would also give it back..."
Time
"As I get older, I manage my time more sparingly. Especially with three older sons and a young daughter, I want to spend time with them as consciously as possible and catch all the 'magical' moments."
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