Stella McCartney is a groundbreaking English fashion designer and ardent champion of the environment and the well being of animals. The daughter of Linda McCartney, a skillful photographer and passionate animal rights activist, and Paul McCartney, the eminent British singer-songwriter, she invokes her love of both the English countryside and the dynamic style of London into an innovative, luxurious, and sustainable fashion house.
Designing her very first jacket at the tender age of 13, McCartney worked under her father’s Savile Row tailor Edward Sexton while simultaneously diving into a coveted internship with the famed Christian Lacroix where McCartney explored the mastery of haute couture. Her studies at the respected Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication turned Ravensbourne University London led to a focus in fashion design at the celebrated Central Saint Martins. Upon graduation, supermodels and friends Kate Moss, Yasmin Le Bon, Naomi Campbell, walked in her final, charismatic runway presentation.
With an internal compass for singular creativity, McCartney rose to become the Creative Director of Chloé in 1997, and led the brand into vibrant new realms of organic beauty and sophistication until 2001. The deft visionary made the executive decision to launch her own eponymous brand in 2001 alongside Gucci Group now Kering. From a dazzling first show in Paris, the house of Stella McCartney now offers boutiques around the world in major cities such as London, New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Barcelona, Miami, Rome, Milan, and many more.
A standout, trademark feature of the Stella McCartney brand is the absence of fur or leather in any of her collections. Thus the eco-conscious brand leads the industry in developing vegan-friendly creations that place the survival of Mother Nature first and foremost.
The spirited launch of Stella perfume in 2003 opened new pathways of artistic exploration for the forward-thinking brand, as did a chic and cutting-edge partnership with adidas in 2004. An inaugural lingerie collection was debuted in 2008 to the excitement of her discerning clientele, and in 2009 the now legendary Falabella bag was unveiled as well as the introduction of Stella McCartney Kids.
McCartney raised the curtain on a line of eco-conscious eyewear in 2011, and was honored as the Creative Director for Team Great Britain at the Summer Olympics in London in 2012. It marked the momentous first time a notable fashion designer had designed such a feat. In pioneering fashion, McCartney went on to offer a swimwear collection in 2016, as well as the inaugural menswear collection in 2017.
A myriad of sustainable projects have unfolded in recent years, such as the development of the first vegan Stan Smith trainers, the launching of the Stella McCartney Cares Foundation, and the debut of STELLA by Stella McCartney—a wholly vegan, 99% natural skincare line alongside LVMH.
This year, In partnership with Veuve Clicquot, Stella McCartney has created a line with VEGEA, a grape-based alternative to leather. Their new line repurposes grape waste from the Veuve Clicquot vineyards in Reims, France, and transforms them into an opulent leather-like material, through a process that took over a year to refine. The new range of products plays with the aesthetics of the vineyard—mesmeric basket-woven bucket bags, for example—that, paired with the knowledge that they are cruelty-free, makes them genuinely bucolic and fanciful.
