U.K. Gets to Scent It Like Beckham

First there was Old Spice. Now there's Posh Spice.

Former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and her husband, superstar footballer David Beckham, announced that they'll be launching Intimate Beckham, their own line of his-and-her fragrances.

The jet-setting couple join the growing ranks of celebs, ranging from Elizabeth Taylor to Sarah Jessica Parker to Paris Hilton, who have bottled a scent and called it their own. David Beckham actually has a cologne to his name already--Instinct, which hit overseas stores in November, selling more than 50,000 bottles at Superdrug, a U.K. chain.

"It has proved to be enormously popular and is one of our best-selling brands," a Superdrug spokeswoman told Britain's Independent newspaper. "The Beckham brand has a very wide appeal, particularly to people who read celebrity magazines and think that Posh is really fabulous. They will buy the fragrances because they like them as a couple and aspire to what they have."

Perhaps responding to myriad tabloid reports that have suggested over the years that their marriage is on the rocks due to his alleged infidelity, her issues, etc., etc., a press release stated that the For Him and For Her scents are "separately superlative and yet together are beautifully complementary, bringing out the best in each other."

Posh & Becks tied the knot in 1999 and have three children, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz, so named so they can play with Geri Halliwell's little girl, Bluebell Madonna.

According to the Independent, the U.K.'s answer to Brangelina may be so wrapped up with each other--or not--that they didn't even make it to own launch party in London Sunday, instead sending two look-alikes to appear in their place.

But assuming you want to smell like the real thing, David Beckham "is a portrait of modern masculinity" and his signature scent is a combination of bergamot and cardamom, mixed with grapefruit for a "woody-spicy accord." Which surely beats the smell of post-game cleats and soccer jerseys.

Meanwhile, Victoria Beckham, née Adams when she was a "Wannabe" girl, is a "multitalented mother, wife, businesswoman and style icon" whose perfume is a mixture of lilies, tuberose, orange blossom, vanilla, sandalwood and musk.

The so-called compatible fragrances hit stores in Britain Sept. 1. There's no word yet whether those alluring concoctions will make it across the pond anytime soon.

Though David Beckham isn't the most popular guy in England right now, having led his World Cup team to a quarterfinal loss against Portugal last month, fragrance-maker Cody is banking on Posh & Becks' overall appeal.

"They are so well known outside of football and music as a couple and a brand that I don't see it having much effect," Marketing Week magazine deputy editor Ian McCawley told the Independent when asked about the male Beckham's diminishing soccer prowess.

"[Beckham's] image has increasingly moved away from football, focusing more on his looks"--which are quite good--"and style than on his performance on the field," Andy Milligan, author of Brand It Like Beckham, told the U.K.'s Guardian paper. "[His] management team has always factored in that he will not be a footballer forever."

As for the Posh half of the duo, Mrs. Beckham launched a line of high-end (i.e., pricey, $300 a pair) jeans in 2004 for Rock and Republic called VB Rocks and has plans for sunglasses this year. While the garments were well-received, the same couldn't be said for her first and last solo outing, 2001's Victoria Beckham, which sold only 60,000 copies in the U.K.