Sustainable Stella
I have chosen Stella McCartney as my favourite brand due to the core values which relates with my business ethics. Stella graduated from Central St Martins in 1995 where she studied Fashion Design which is apart of the Univeristy of the Arts London where I am now currently a student. In 2001 Stella McCartney launched her luxury fashion house and showed her first collection in Paris that October.
Stella had a vision to collect waste from fast fashion brands and break it down in a non-chemical way to make a garment out of it. The brand is also vegatarian, the designs have never used leather, feathers, skin or fur. The brand continued to grow its sustainability through material and supply chain innovation, partnerships and more.
The Falabella bag is an iconic staple. Its debut in 2009 changed the way fashion viewed sustainable alternatives to leather. It is constructucted using a textile called “vegan shaggy deer”, its chains are made from recycled aluminium and its monogram lining is sourced from recycled polyester. It takes over 3 hours for an Italian artisan to make this beloved handbag. It creates 24 times less of an impact on the environment than calfskin. It is a timeless bag but with an edgy feel to it, it can also be worn two ways carried by the top handles or folded into a clutch. The brand continues to commit to fashion circularity and regeneratice solutions.
Stella McCartney dedicated an entire show and collection to “Shrooms” for SS22. The designer took inspiration from Netflix’s 2019 “Fantastic Fungi” documentary which brings to light the benefits and medical properties of mushrooms. The brand produced the first ever bag made from mycelium leather. McCartney also used biphilic shapes on bodycon cut-outs and psychedelic swirls.
The brand is ahead of the game in the fashion industry and inspires so many others. Her collaborations with Hunter and Adidas keeps her staying ahead of competitors whilst embarking a new approach and continuing the brand ethos. The Hunter collaboration with Stella McCartney is their most sustainable boot ever made guaranteeing that “no rainforests were culled to farm the trees used and protecting the wellbeing of workers and local communities”. The brand displays social responsibility whilst also staying on top of trends and continuing to be desired by many. McCartney’s advice included: “value collaboration and mutual learning over competition; “be a fighter” when it comes to securing better incentives for sustainable practices; and always look for new information on how to be better. “You never stop learning when you work sustainably,”.
Stella McCartney US: “About Stella McCartney” 2022
The Business of Fashion: “Stella McCartney on the Business of Sustainable Design” 2021
The Face: Stella McCartney SS22: all aboard the mushroom revolution!” 2021