Victoria Beckham has finally made her fashion firm profitable – how did she do it?

There is another, less tangible ingredient: Lady Beckham herself.

The woman who once seemed almost comically aloof has become increasingly willing to show the person behind the brand. She’s been known to post videos demonstrating her beauty products – often with wet hair, seemingly filmed in her bathroom.

Lisa Maynard-Atem, a business strategy adviser, said this has been crucial.

“She hasn’t abandoned the polish or aspiration that you expect from a luxury brand, but she has added personality,” she said. “That creates connection and people buy into brands emotionally as well as commercially.”

Maynard-Atem added that Lady Beckham’s openness about the firm’s struggles has also helped.

“By acknowledging the losses and some of the mistakes that were made, she makes the eventual turnaround more credible. The failure hasn’t been edited out of the story. It has become part of the story,” she said.

Luxury fashion remains a competitive business, and one profitable year is no guarantee of future success.

The key is to keep innovating, according to Bedford.

“Success changes with the trends and probably the biggest factor is the creative director,” she said.

“Fashion is not an easy industry to enter and certainly not for the faint of heart. The founders who last are the ones who treat setbacks as information to learn and then build from, rather than something to hide.”