David Beckham's inspiration for his new fragrance Respect was to be "elegant but not overpowering".

David Beckham

David Beckham

The 42-year-old former England football captain has released a variety of fragrances throughout his career, but the sporting ace has revealed "a number of things" influenced his latest cosmetic item as he wanted the product to be "fresh", "new", and in keeping with the same "style" of his other products.

Speaking about his latest venture in an Instagram Story shared on Boots photo-sharing site, he said: "I think the biggest inspiration is a number of things, obviously we have had this relationship in fragrance for over 10 years, so to keep coming up with something that is fresh, that is new, and to the style that we always go for, which is elegant, and not overpowering, is part of everything."

And David - who has sons Brooklyn, 18, Romeo, 15, Cruz, 12, and six-year-old daughter Harper with his wife Victoria Beckham - says the title of the scent plays a "big part" in the product.

He said: "And obviously the name is such a big part of this."

Meanwhile, David has admitted he didn't have a style icon when he was younger and it is only as he has matured he has looked up to the late Steve McQueen's fashion sense.

When asked about his fashion muse, he said: "The person I have always looked to, maybe not when I was younger because when I was younger I didn't have someone I looked up on that side of things, but later on I would have to say someone like Steve McQueen for his fashion sense, for the way he looks, for his hair style, everything about him was cool. So, for me, he looked great in a suit, he looked great in a t-shirt, jeans, riding a bike."