The Life of Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney: A Fashion Innovator

Stella McCartney, as a costume and fashion designer, has often challenged the manner in which things such as clothes are made. In fact, she actively opted to innovate in so as transform the fashion industry from within as she built and operated her now global company on sustainability. As a matter of fact, more than 50% of her entire women’s and men’s wear collection is viewed as sustainable and environmentally friendly; a significant improvement from her initial collection when she started out (Arthur).

The Power of Principles

It is impressive how she has managed to hold her own and remain true to her principles in a 50-50 partnership with a huge luxury conglomerate - Kering - for more than a decade, or to build a brand with profits exceeding $6.5 million without utilizing leather or even fur in any of her clothes, shoes or bags. According to Arthur, she could have achieved all these without having a tough core. In order to make it in a the top echelon of the fashion industry as McCartney has managed to do, one needs to not only make beautiful clothes, but also develop a brand that in itself is a valuable brand (stellamccartney.com). Stella McCartney, apart from being fun and whimsical, she is also tenacious, serious and principled.

A Holistic Approach to Design

She considered herself a woman designing and making clothes for women; she argues that there is numerous layers to this as well. For instance, McCartney believes that her designing clothes, shoes and accessories for women, it rings her some sort of effortlessness, which means that she ends up engaging in over thinking all the details of her designs, which in some sense it is spiritual (Cartner-Morley). She puts in all this effort since she believe being concerned with details in that way has significant effect on the entire manner and posture of those who wear her designs. Clearly, there is some sort of holistic sense that she thinks of when designing and making women’s wear. She not only wants those wearing her clothes to feel cool, modern and relevant, but also feel that those clothes are well constructed in the most elegant fabric. In addition to that, Stella McCartney does things quite differently compared to her peers in the industry; she tries to acquire those elegant fabrics in a sustainable and responsible manner (Schiling).

A Journey of Success

Nevertheless, Stella McCartney’s life has never been one that can be considered as one-note. She was raised in a relatively wealthy family of a pop star, and lived in an organic farm and went to the local public school. Her interest in fashion began early on in her life; at the age of 13 years, she had started making clothes on her own. Three years later, as a teenager, only 15 years old, she vacationed with Christian Lacroix; and by the time she was finishing her foundation studies in art and joined university, she had already gotten internships at Vogue and other revered fashion stalwarts (Sowray; stellamccartney.com).

In fact, immediately after she graduated, she became an apprentice under Edward Sexton and was later hired by Chloe as a creative director; it is at this point that the surprised many critics with her numerous well-reviewed portfolios. She became known for her simple and sharp sewing technique that encompassed an elegant feminine edge, as well as extensive approach to wearable design. One of her guiding principles then was that she would design clothes that not only look good on the runway, but also look elegant and classy when worn by real people; it is the look of his clothes on real people and how it made them feel that mattered most to McCartney. She did admit that achieving and living to that principle was not easy for her, but she found it to be fun and it is what motivated her. Nevertheless, in the early 2000s, the Gucci Group announced that it had teamed up with her to create McCartney’s own label which was to become an exclusive luxury brand. Her apparently shining start took a huge south-side dive when she launched her own-name show. This never put her down; instead she chose to learn from it and since then grew her business steadily with an aesthetics ranging from sportswear to eveningwear. In fact, despite not competing in the red carpet market her designs have made it there (Cartner-Morley).

A Commitment to Sustainability

McCartney followed in her mother’s footsteps; she is known to be a staunch vegetarian and a firm supporter of animal rights. In fact, as earlier noted, it is for this reason that she has never used fur or leather in any of her clothes, shoes or handbags. As a result, she has chosen to use plastic or vinyl to design and make her shoes; all of her handbags and belts are made from other materials such as fabric and raffia. According to Sowray, McCartney, as of 2013, owns and runs more than 20 freestanding apparel stores in various locations such as London’s Mayfair, Milan, SoHo in Manhattan, as well as Palais Royal in Paris.

A Balanced Life

Further, through all these, she managed to start and raise a family of two sons and two daughters with her husband of 15 years. McCartney lives with her family, her four kids and her husband, who also works as a creative consultant, in Notting Hill. She managed to use costume and fashion design to create an environment for herself. In fact, she managed to build herself a wardrobe that includes all of her beliefs, her city and country life, as well as the worlds of working and of being a mother (Horyn). This environment has made her quite different from other successful fashion designers who often begin humbly, normal and approachable and end up difficult and neurotic as the skeins of the business take hold of them (Cartner-Morley). For her, things seem to have happened differently. It is clear that everything about her is amazing and pioneering. She is at ease with herself, confident, free, as well as uncompromising; these are all things she has incorporated in her fashion business and are what have made her successful.

Works Cited

Arthur, Rachel. “Stella McCartney On Innovating The Fashion Industry From Within.” Forbes Magazine, Nov. 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelarthur/2016/11/20/stella-mccartney-innovation-sustainability/#69ace60d72cf.

Brooke, Eliza. ”Stella McCartney Admits That Even She’s Not 100% Eco-Friendly.” Fashionista, 12 May 2014, https://fashionista.com/2014/05/stella-mccartney-sustainability.

Cartner-Morley, Jess. ”The Many Faces of Stella McCartney.” The Guardian, 6 Mar. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/mar/06/-sp-stella-mccartney-interview.

Chen, Vivian. ”Stella McCartney’s Eco-Friendly Fashion Is Fuelled by Her Innovative and Tenacious Spirit.” Scmp.com, 4 Aug. 2017, http://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion-beauty/article/2104776/stella-mccartneys-eco-friendly-fashion-fuelled-her.

Horyn, Cathy. ”What Drives Stella McCartney.” The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/magazine/stella-mccartney.html.

Schiling, Mary Kaye. ”Stella McCartney Is Weaving A New Way Forward.” Fast Company, Oct. 2017, https://www.fastcompany.com/40474789/stella-mccartney-is-weaving-a-new-way-forward.

Sowray, Bibby. ”Stella McCartney.” Vogue, Jan. 2012, http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/stella-mccartney-biography.

stellamccartney.com. ”About Stella.” Stellamccartney.com, 2018, https://www.stellamccartney.com/experience/en/about-stella/.