Victoria Beckham is setting up shop on London’s Dover Street; her first-ever store is scheduled to open later this month. Beckham has come a long way in nine seasons, from the hourglass dresses that launched her design career. For Spring, she’s thinking about uniform dressing and the military connotations that the concept implies. Epaulets and patch pockets decorated outerwear. Contrast color leather belts that threaded into slits at the sides of coats and jackets felt like a callback of sorts to the internal grosgrain belts that famously gave her dresses their rigorous shape. The silhouette here was precise but not punishing. Single lapels on jute raincoats that zip up the opposite side flounced softly away from the shoulder line. Meanwhile, fine-gauge ribbed knit dresses and skirts that fell in a slight flare to the mid calf were cut close to the body without clinging. In the wake of last season’s sweater explosion, we’re predicting a big knitwear moment for Spring ’15. Beckham made hers look new and extra desirable with lacing details up the front or down the sides.

Everything was impeccably done—that’s Victoria. But at times it also felt derivative, and it came at the expense of what was once her core message. As her brand has grown, Beckham has branched beyond the sexy, fitted dresses with which she made her first big splash. That’s necessary and good, though not always easy. You couldn’t fault the cool precision of this collection, but it did make you long for the days when she put a little wiggle on it.