MODELLING WITH DAUGHTER PHOENIX MELANIE BROWN ON PLANNING HER WEDDING AT ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL - WITH HELP FROM VICTORIA BECKHAM

As a member of the world’s biggest ever girl band, Melanie Brown is used to being photographed and scrutinized. Luckily, it hasn’t stifled her self-image or sense of identity

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“You can analyze it 10 ways to Sunday, if that’s a saying, but I’m a northern girl. I’m real and I’m honest. I have curly Afro hair, I have boobs, I have a butt,” the straight-talking Spice Girl tells Hello!, referring to her workingclass roots in the north of England. “I’m rearing three girls and I want to be able to represent myself honestly and confidently.” Melanie’s championing of a positive body image and self-acceptance has clearly rubbed off on daughters Phoenix, 24, Angel, 16, and 12-year-old Madison.

“Growing up around a big personality, you learn by watching how she conducts herself,” says Phoenix, who is a model and DJ.

“She’s always told me, ‘Never be afraid to ask questions, chase your dreams and wear whatever you want.’ She encourages us to be comfortable and do what makes us feel happy.”

SOMETHING FOR ALL

We catch up with Melanie – a.k.a. Scary Spice – as she and Phoenix join the Own Your Confidence campaign by U.K. fashion brand Pour Moi.

Photographed wearing the label’s lingerie, nightwear and sportswear, mother and daughter are collaborating with the clothing brand for a second time to celebrate bodies of different shapes and sizes.

“Why do we have to pigeonhole ourselves to be perfect when nobody is?” asks Melanie, whose own confidence and happiness are due, in no small part, to her fiancé, Rory McPhee, the entrepreneur and hairdresser whom she lives with in Leeds.