Stella McCartney

Hello fashion readers! Welcome to another week of learning a bit more about English designers and fashion in general. Today we will talk about Stella McCartney, daughter of James Paul McCartney, one of the members of the famous band called ‘The Beatles’. 

This British designer started in fashion at the age of 15, according to the magazine Vogue (2023). However, in other sources it is said that was not the true age at which she started her beginnings. McCartney did her apprenticeship in Christian Lacroix’s atelier. After years of working in the Savile Row shop, she went to the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design to study fashion design (one of the most prestigious fashion universities in the world). In her graduation collection in 1995 Stella’s supermodel friends had taken part in, such as Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss or Yasmin Le Bon. The event was a success since his father was the music of the event singing a song called “Stella May Day” as it is said in the website The School of Feminism. Afterwards, she was named creative director of the luxury brand Chloé for two years. Nevertheless, McCartney decided to open her own clothing brand although she received offers of jobs in big luxury brands such as Gucci. 

She is also known for being a designer who is committed to the environment. For this reason, she does not use any type of fur in her designs or accessories due to the fact that McCartney opts for other types of materials to replace this in her garments. An essential fact to understand this decision is that she is vegetarian and also supports PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an association that supports animal rights). This is one of the reasons why this British designer is so famous because her garments are not only eco-friendly but she also uses vegan materials. This is known in fashion under the term “sustainable luxury fashion”.

“Every year, 150 million trees are cut down to make fabric, but our dresses are made from sustainable viscose, sourced from certified forests in Sweden, and no old-growth forest is destroyed or endangered to make them.” said Stella McCartney in an interview for the magazine Vogue (2021).  

The website School of Feminism says that she is known for designing the wedding dress of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, wife of Prince Harry. On the contrary, Vogue states that Stella McCartney has a name in the fashion industry since she designed the official kit of the British team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 

Throughout her career she has dressed famous celebrities such as the singer Justin Bieber and his wife, the supermodel Hailey Bieber among many others. She also has designed Madonna's garments for her ‘Re-Invention Tour’. 

Stella McCartney has also designed clothes for more affordable brands such as H&M. 

We want to highlight her first capsule collection she made without gender since it was a collection for both women and men. The capsule collection is called ‘The Stella McCartney Shared’ and in it we see for the first time, genderless garments in her brand. 

The designer said the collection is about diversity, individuality and “positivity in the face of climate change,” with materials including organic cotton and recycled polyester (Samantha Continue, 2020).

Stella said for the online magazine Women’s wear daily (2020): “Youth today are naturally open-minded and fluid with gender. How they inclusively celebrate diversity and individuality is beautiful, using self-expression to affect social change, rising up collectively in the face of global social unrest and the climate crisis, to create the world they want to see”.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Laird Borrelli-Person(2019)” Stella McCartney’s Best Looks in Vogue” en Vogue. [En línea]. Disponible en:https://www.vogue.es/moda/articulos/stella-mccartney-coleccion-pre-fall-la-mas-sostenible  [Consultado: 26-11-2023]

Vogue (2023) “Stella McCartney” en Vogue. [En línea]. Disponible en: https://www.vogue.es/moda/modapedia/disenadores/stella-mc-cartney/191   [Consultado: 26-11-2023]   

School of Feminism 2023, Stella McCartney diseñadora de moda británica, disponible en: https://www.schooloffeminism.org/post/stella-mccartney-dise%C3%B1adora-de-moda-brit%C3%A1nica [Consultado: 26-11-2023]

PETA Latino 2023, Sobre PETA, disponible en: https://www.petalatino.com/sobre/  [Consultado: 26-11-2023]

Samantha Conti (2020)” Stella McCartney Goes Genderless With Latest Capsule Collection” en Women’s Wear Daily. [En línea]. Disponible en: https://wwd.com/feature/stella-mccartney-goes-genderless-capsule-collection-1234570925/ [Consultado:26-11-2023] 

Designo 2016, Diseñadora del mes:Stella McCartney. Disponible en: https://www.dsigno.es/blog/diseno-de-moda/disenadora-del-mes-stella-mccartney [Consultado:26-11-2023]