Alexander Fury: The allure of wearing Victoria Beckham's cast offs

It’s interesting the lure that celebrity imbues garments with: totemic, even talismanic

Victoria Beckham (Outnet/vb)

On Wednesday, a selection of items from the wardrobe of Victoria Beckham go on sale on net-a-porter.com’s lower-priced sister site, TheOutnet.com.

What those items are currently remains a mystery. The presumption is that they will include a great swathe of Vicky B’s own labels, as well as dodgy delights from her flashier, trashier days. Perhaps the purportedly fake Sprouse-graffitied Vuitton from 2001? Or maybe some choice picks from her late Spice Girls predilection for Gucci – one half of that gruesome twosome of leather bombers she and David sported in 2000?

It’s their former proximity to Posh that’s got people thronging, even more so than the no doubt impressive labels stitched inside these garments. It’s interesting the lure that celebrity imbues garments with: something totemic, even talismanic. Generally speaking, these kinds of sales only come about posthumously – the auction of Jackie Onassis’ effects in 1996 perhaps epitomises the fetishisation of every tiny totem even tenuously associated with fame.

The underlying charitable cause – mothers2mothers, which educates sub-Saharan African mothers to help prevent paediatric Aids and HIV – is, of course, the point that should be emphasised. When Beckham last donated old clobber to a local charity shop, queues of shoppers snaked around west London to grab a piece. Many hiked up the price and re-sold them on eBay. This way round – with the help of Christie’s in valuing the items – all proceeds go to a good cause.

So that overwhelming demand for access is a good thing indeed.

David and Victoria Beckham sell designer clothes and shoes to British Red Cross in Kensington for Typhoon Haiyan victims