And while David wants to change the American opinion of professional soccer, Victoria, 33, seems determined to change the American opinion of her. "I think people are really going to see me for the first time," she says. "I think they have this impression that I'm this miserable cow who doesn't smile. But I'm actually quite the opposite.

"When you're out there, they're trying to get pictures up your shirt, down your top," she continues, in explanation of her tendency to scowl in paparazzi shots. "With all the flashes, it's as much as you can do to just find your car. I'm going to try and smile more for America."

*****

As of this fall, the Beckham style will be widely available in America. Victoria's denim line and collection of sunglasses-both under her dVb label-will be sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel and other upscale stores. (Intimately Beckham, a fragrance in both men's and women's versions, will be in department stores.) For Victoria, an admitted shopaholic, it's a major triumph to be sold in such retail temples. "Being a Spice Girl opened a lot of doors, but it also shut many because of preconceptions people have about me," she says. "I've had to bang down those doors."

Victoria insists that-unlike some celebs with namesake labels-she was very much involved, even traveling to the factory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to supervise the production of her jeans. "I'm a real consumer, and I think I know how real women want to look," she says. She even had her new friend Jennifer Lopez road test a pair to make sure they suited curvier girls.

Coveted by the likes of Nicole Richie, Sienna Miller and Nicole Kidman, the £990 origami-folded stretch cotton frock has been designed by Roland Mouret, whose Galaxy Dress became the hottest item of 2005.

Posh posed for photographers at the team's ground in Carson, California, on Friday with a £10,000 Barbie- pink ostrich-skin Hermes Birkin bag on her arm, Balenciaga court shoes and her trademark oversized sunglasses.

Having worn the dress long before it goes on sale in November - and in the pink limited edition which will be sold only in upmarket New York department store Bergdorf Goodman - Posh is sure to have made shoppers from Sloane Street to Sunset Boulevard green with envy.

It is, to use her husband's terminology, a gloriously executed goal against the fashion opposition. And to guarantee she's one step ahead of every other red carpet hopeful, Posh has put her name down for all 21 items in Mouret's new collection - an order worth more than £30,000.