Fashion Designer Week - Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney was born in Lambeth, London, England, the second child of Beatle Paul McCartney and American photographer Linda McCartney. Despite their fame, the McCartneys wanted their children to lead as normal a life as possible, so Stella and her siblings attended local state schools in East Sussex, one of them being Bexhill College. McCartney has said that while attending state school, she was a victim of bullying, as well as being a bully herself. Stella graduated from Central St Martins in 1995 and in 1997 she was appointed the Creative Direction of Chloe in Paris, which Karl Lagerfield did not approve of. He thought that Chloe should hire a bigger name than Stella McCartney but it worked out pretty well for her regardless.
Stella first became interested in designing clothes as a young teenager and at just thirteen she made her first jacket. Later, she interned for Christian Lacroix working on his first haute couture collection. Stella studied her foundation at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication and fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design int he early 1990's. Her graduation collection in 1995 was modelled by friends and supermodels Naomi Campbell, Yasmin De Bon, and Kate Moss, for free, at the graduation runway show. The show made front-page news and the entire collection was sold to Tokio, a London boutique. The designs were licensed to Browns, Joseph, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.
A lifelong vegetarian, Stella does not use any leather or fur in her designs and she is also a big supporter of PETA. Stella also avoids using wool, silk, and any other animal-derived fabrics in her clothing.
In 2001, McCartney launched her own fashion house under her name in a joint venture with Gucci Group and showed her first collection in Paris. She now operates 17 freestanding stores and her collections are now distributed in over 50 countries. In 2008, she launched a new lingerie line and in November 2010, the Stella McCartney Kids Collection for newborns and children up to 12 was launched. Stella also is a designer to the stars. In 2004, she designed clothing for Madonna's Re-Invention Tour and Annie Lennox's summer tour. She has also collaborated with other companies such as Adidas, with whom she had a longstanding relationship with since 2004. In 2005, she designed clothes and accessories for H&M to boost public awareness of her own brand and to create more affordable options for her fans.
In February 2013, Stella was named as one of the most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. She also won many other awards including the Elle style award for best designer of the year in 2007. Here are a few of my favorite looks that Stella McCartney has done for the stars over the years:
Margot Robbie in Stella McCartney
Gwyneth Paltrow in Stella McCartney, 2012
Rihanna in Stella McCartney, 2014
Kerry Washington in Stella McCartney
Rihanna in Stella McCartney, 2014
Kerry Washington in Stella McCartney, 2012
Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney, 2012
Kristen Bell in Stella McCartney
Kate Moss in Stella McCartney, 2012
Jourdan Dunn in Stella McCartney, 2014
Now onto the runway portion, here are a few of my favorite looks from Stella's Spring/Summer 2015 Collection in Paris:
I really love Stella McCartney as a designer and as a person. I admire her love for animals and using non-animal tested materials. She has a bohemian, free spirited style that is so in style this year and I can see her collection being worn years from now by young women across the globe.
Check back tomorrow to see my post on the designer duo of Public School.
-Haley xxx