If going viral is the metric we live or die by, Cruz Beckham is currently living his #bestlife. This week, images of the 17-year-old in his tighty whities on the cover of i-D have been trending on every platform that counts.
The shoot for the magazine’s Out Of Body issue features the teenager in various stages of undress with pink hair and a pair of silver grillz (the z is important). The crotch-grabbing and hyper-sexualised styling have sparked conversations about the double standards around the objectification of boys and girls. For their part, Cruz and i-D say the Steven Klein shoot was in homage to a similar one done with a boxer short-clad David Beckham for Arena HOMME+ some twenty years earlier.
The debate about the sexualisation of young people in the public sphere is of course valid, but the fact remains: Cruz has pulled off the sort of internet-breaking pop culture moment that most of his up-and-coming contemporaries can only dream of.
It’s just the kind of stunt that his mum and dad used to execute so perfectly - albeit for a OK! magazine-reading, print-centric generation. Recall if you will the iconic Posh and Becks wedding thrones, the wonderfully naff 2007 TV special Victoria Beckham: Coming to America and David’s infamous sarong (it was a different time).
The ease with which the Beckham boys - Brooklyn, 22; Romeo, 19 and Cruz, 17 - manage to execute a viral ‘moment’ is no surprise. They have learned from the best. Long before Instagram followers were currency and a single post could result in a multi-million pound pay-day, David and Victoria invented the concept of personal branding.
“The approach the Beckhams took to brand building was uncommon for celebrities in that it was strategic, well-advised and purposefully planned,” says Andy Milligan author of Brand It Like Beckham. “The alignment of their personal interests and passions with business and philanthropic pursuits, has enabled the brand to be sustained over time. They’re not ‘going through the motions’. For example. David’s role in football may have evolved from player to owner but it’s still sustained by his passion for football.”
Nineties celebrity journalist and founder of Beak Communications Dean Piper agrees: “The Beckhams were extremely forward thinking with their approach to building a ‘brand’ all those years ago. Before the Kardashians came traipsing through the showbiz world, the Beckhams lead supreme. They worked hard, always had good people around them and their main objective was to protect the brand at all costs. It’s no surprise Brand Beckham is where it is right now as a global entity that shows no sign of slowing down.”
And now, as their offspring step tentatively out of their stylish shadow, only more fame can follow. "The Beckham children coming of age is only going to strengthen brand Beckham,” says Piper. “It’s a really exciting time for the Beckhams now the boys are all heading out there into the world. Brooklyn, Cruz and Romeo are the most wanted invitees in town and the magazines are clambering for exclusives shoots. It will be interesting to see how things move on. Often you see the children struggle in the limelight of their famous parents with parties, drugs and rehab. But these aren’t your typical showbiz kids. They’ve been brought up well, have level heads and appear to want to work hard and have a career in showbiz.”
So, what’s next for Brand Beckham 2.0?
Brooklyn, 22
Instagram followers: 13.2m
Star power: Salt Bae, who?
Footballer, photographer... chef? After a stint at New York’s Parsons School of Design, an internship with Rankin and a snarkily-received attempt at photography (in his 2017 book, What I See, the blurred outline of an elephant with the caption: ‘so hard to photograph but incredible to see’ inspired many a meme), the eldest Beckham scion has landed on a career in the kitchen.
In Cookin’ With Brooklyn, his Ronsil weekly social media series, viewers are brought along for the “start of my food journey.” In what could be taken as a warning, he adds: “I’m not a chef yet.”
In an interview with this publication last year, he said: “I’ve always been into trying new food, even if it is sometimes a bit not that great. I remember trying jellied eels because I’ve always liked pie and mash — and I did not like them at all.” According to some reports, it can cost £73,000 and took a team of 62 to create an episode (the one where he made a bagel).
Brooklyn’s earning potential is arguably the biggest of the three. At 17, he landed his first commercial deal - £100K to promote a Huawei phone - and last year was paid £1 million to be the face of Superdry. His wedding to Nicola Peltz, daughter of American billionaire business tycoon Nelson Peltz, 26, with whom he has already starred alongside in a Pepe Jeans campaign, will be the wedding of the year.
Romeo, 19
Instagram followers: 3.2m
Star power: Golden balls 2.0
A complete chip off the old block, Millfield school-graduate Romeo Beckham plays professional football for Fort Lauderdale CF, the reserve team of Inter Miami MLS, which is owned by dad David.
But don’t be thinking that means he’ll have an easy ride. Inter Miami’s head coach Phil Neville said after Romeo’s debut last September: “I think the first thing that David said to me was, ‘You have got to be harder on him than anyone else. He has got to work harder than anyone else to get into that team because there will be questions, there will be expectations on his shoulders.’”
As is befitting Golden Balls 2.0, Romeo knows his angles on and off the pitch - he made his modelling debut for Burberry aged ten and recently signed a £1.2 million deal with Puma. With model, TikTok star and It Girl girlfriend Mia Regan by his side, Romeo is on course to out-fame his siblings. At just 18, Regan has worked with Marc Jacobs, Chaos and Balmain. A Cotswolds native, she regularly appears in beauty tutorials for her mum-in-law’s Victoria Beckham Beauty instagram and was spotted sitting f’row with VB this London Fashion Week.
Cruz, 17
Instagram followers: 1.9m
Star power: Watch out, Bieber
It was an impromptu on-stage moment with mum during the 2008 Spice Girls world tour at Madison Square Garden which gave the youngest Beckham boy a yearning for pop super-stardom. “I was doing head spins and stuff [in front of 20,000 people], which is great to look back at now,” he told i-D. Years later, it was listening to Cruz sing along to Beyoncé ’s Love on Top in the car when mum and dad apparently thought, ‘hey, this kid might have something.’ “I was still really little! My voice hadn’t really developed, so I could just sing that high!” Queen Bey can rest easy for now.
Cruz, who’s just turned 17 and celebrated with a Billie Eilish-themed birthday cake, is yet to release any music - unless you count 2016’s “If Every Day Was Christmas”, a very sweet charity song featuring the line: ‘I don’t ever want today to leave or ever change, I wouldn’t mind the winter snow if the seasons stayed the same.’ But it is a career in music on which Cruz has set his sights.
He is, he says, taking his time and learning his craft and has self-taught himself how to play the guitar, piano and drums. When he’s not deep into YouTube tutorials, it is Ed Sheeran he turns to for a jam. The one-man pop powerhouse bought Cruz an acoustic guitar for his birthday. “I went and spent a while chatting to Cruz about his music and teaching him how to write a song,” said Ed. Over in the States, Cruz spends time with Poo Bear. Not a cuddly toy, but a producer who’s worked with Usher and Justin Bieber. Maintaining a career in music isn’t easy though, even if you have Beckham stardust on your side. “Crafting a cool image and working on brand deals can be particularly challenging, authentic collaborations are going to be hard to come by,” says Nik Speller, director at marketing and brand strategy leaders Influencer.
David, 46 and Victoria, 47
Instagram followers: combined total of 100 million
Star power: Limitless
“The unique appeal of brand Beckham initially was due to their roots in music, fashion and football,” says Milligan “It meant they could get global coverage on ‘front, middle and back pages’ - there was something to interest almost anyone. It’s hard to think of a comparable couple with that breadth of appeal.” Posh and Becks have turned this powerful mix into a combined net worth of £380m.
Since quitting football in 2013, David has amassed a mega portfolio including tie-ups with Adidas, watch brand Tudor, life insurer AIA, and Haig Club whisky. His instagram is peppered with #sponcon. He reportedly - and controversially due to its human rights record - signed a ten-year £150m deal to be an ambassador for Qatar and become the face of the Qatar World Cup. He also part-owns Inter Miami football club. Business Becks also has shares worth £1.4 million in online gaming firm Guild Esports and is in the process of making a Disney+ reality series called Save our Squad. Just this week, he’s signed up with new brand agency, Authentic Brands Group. “I’ve been so lucky to have had such amazing support in my business life… now I’m proud to announce that I’m partnering with @Jamiejsalter and joining the @ABG_nyc family. I’m excited for this new chapter… Great things to come…” he wrote on Instagram. ABG will “co-own and manage Beckham’s global brand.”
As for Victoria, the designer’s London-based fashion empire continues on, though according to the Sunday Times Rich List, it has lost more than £24 million over the last two years. She launched Victoria Beckham Beauty in 2019 and has an ongoing collaboration with Reebok.
“It’ll definitely be interesting to see how this dynasty plays out and whether - in the future - the surname Beckham will be less associated with the parents and more so with any of the kids,” says Influencer’s Speller. “It’ll be especially interesting to see if it can continue with a third generation too - or whether that’s just too weak a connection to the original celebrities for the appeal and influence to continue.”
Either way the future’s bright for the Beckhams.
