Chinese get new fashion guru: Victoria Beckham
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Followers of fashion in China are about to get a new mentor - Victoria Beckham, the fashionista wife of English soccer player David Beckham.
Book publisher Penguin China said on Tuesday it bought the Chinese language rights to a style guide written by Beckham, the "Posh" member of the reunited British pop band Spice Girls who also has her own fashion line, dVb Style.
Jo Lusby, general manager of Penguin China, said "That Extra Half an Inch" -- a reference to Beckham's love of high heels -- should be available in China by the end of 2007.
Penguin UK has already sold the rights to the book in the United States, Holland, Japan, Portugal, Lithuania and Russia.
"'That Extra Half an Inch' is going to add something very new to the range of style and fashion guides currently available in China," Lusby said in a statement.
Beckham's book has sold nearly 400,000 copies in Britain since it was first published in hardcover by Penguin UK imprint Michael Joseph in October 2006.
The Beckhams moved to Los Angeles in a media blitz in July for her soccer star husband to take up a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team worth $250 million.
The former pop star, who has three young sons, has since landed her first acting role on prime-time U.S. television and is to appear as herself in an episode of the popular comedy "Ugly Betty." The episode will be filmed in the autumn.
But the Beckhams have struggled to establish themselves in the United States as the mega stars they were in Europe.
A reality TV special chronicling Victoria Beckham's move to California that was intended to showcase her humor and personality backfired amid mediocre ratings and poor reviews. Her husband has been dogged by injuries that have kept him off the field.
