By now, you've likely seen the viral clip of David Beckham jokingly calling out his wife, Victoria Beckham, in their new Netflix documentary for claiming she was once working class.
'We're very working class,' Victoria says to the cameras while discussing her family upbringing, before David jokingly pops his head around the door. 'Be hones,' he says. 'What car did your dad drive you to school in?' After some hesitancy, she eventually admits, 'A Rolls Royce'. If purchased today, that car could set you back an eye-watering £441,100.
It demonstrated quite accurately the misconceptions about what it actually means to grow up low-income and who gets to identify as such.
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Victoria's school journey was a far cry from my experience as a working-class kid living on a council estate. Come rain (mostly rain, I’m from Wales) or shine, my grandmother would pick me up from school by foot as my mother worked part-time late shifts in retail and my stepfather worked at a local factory.
During high school, I only sometimes had my fare for the two buses I needed to catch to get home. I felt humiliated having to rely on my more affluent friends (who already had cars at 17), to help me make the five-mile trip. I'm now 31, but I still don't have a driver's licence. I couldn't prioritise learning to drive, regardless of the thought of even managing to afford a car if I did. Victoria's comfortable upbringing due to her father's successful electronics wholesale business provided an unfathomable life for most low-income children in Britain. So, why was it so hard for her to admit it?
Bizarrely, I've found the fashion industry has become accustomed to glamorising a kind of fashion aesthetic typically associated with lower socioeconomic communities — so much so, it's now accepted and, dare I even say it due to my own discomfort, cool to cosplay as working-class. The truth is this: I know so many Victoria Beckhams.
They're often creatives I've met throughout my career in the fashion industry who can't comprehend their wealth privilege. You've likely met a Victoria Beckham too — maybe during education, joking about being poor but having a four-figure savings pot while you work two jobs. Or perhaps you came across her at your low-paid office job, the person that complains about their salary while wearing a Molly Goddard dress and is secretly bankrolled by her parents.
So, how exactly did we get here?
Nowadays, it seems people are co-opting the term working class in an attempt to convince others their place in the working world is valid, because they were 'self-made'.
Fashion's obsession with meritocracy, praising those for having multiple side hustles has bred an environment where everyone wants to stand on a 'but I work hard' pedestal to justify their wealth. Because, you know, everyone now knows capitalism is bad. But claims of humble beginnings can't be used as a scapegoat to justify internalised capitalistic values. Growing up (or claiming to grow up) low income isn't a free pass to excuse how you now may benefit from the UK’s problematic wealth disparity.
Additionally, while the cost of living crisis affects almost everyone, we've entered an era where most of us have less in our pockets, and the lines between the working and the middle class are blurring. Despite this, we cannot forget that the current climate is drastically worse for those who were struggling to begin with. So while yes, we may have less money and be working harder than ever before, we need to learn what it means to identify as working-class. Vicky, if you’re reading this please take some notes.
'Working class' is a socioeconomic term used to describe persons in a social class marked by jobs that typically provide low pay or physical labour. Examples include construction or factory workers, cleaners, miners, retail sales and domestic workers. Those who are unemployed or supported by social welfare are also often included. Throughout history, the working class has been incessantly demonised and wrongfully labelled as lazy, unskilled and uneducated workers. The harsh reality is that hailing from a working-class background poses significant financial and mental challenges and is a constant, burdening reminder of how much you're allowed to achieve. Shockingly, only 16% of the creative industry roles are made up of working-class people. People from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are also 60% less likely to be in a professional occupation and 28% less likely to hold a management role than those from more affluent backgrounds. It's something the Victoria Beckhams of the world will never experience.
And no, this is not to say those who benefit from wealth can’t work in fashion, but just asking for those that do benefit from wealth privilege, to start acknowledging it and please stop cosplaying as working-class.
