She built her career on the same principles, holding on to the vegetarianism and environmentally conscious mindset and introducing it to the larger fashion world. I was brought up in a very honest, mindful, responsible way.’ So that had a massive impact on me, regardless of who these people were. I was brought up on this kind of realness, on an organic farm. That is what I was brought up on: a woman who cut her own hair and never dyed it. ‘I look at this and see my mum looking so modern - look at her hairy legs and armpits. ‘It started here,’ she says, looking at a framed image of her parents hanging on the wall. Stella says the outspoken, sustainability- touting, womenswear-designing woman’s woman we see today originated with her mum. Ten she asked me to do her second wedding She wore other pieces of mine and we had a friendship. I was honoured and I still am,’ says Stella. And then she asked me to do her second wedding dress. approached me and we worked on other things.
‘I have had moments in my career where I’ve caught up with Gwyneth or Madonna and was like, “Can I dress you for that?” But this time around, they were drawn to me. But for Stella, it’s more validation of successes she’s already achieved. In the opposite corner stands the honey-yellow stunner chosen by Amal Clooney for the nuptials, while reams of fabric on a table in the centre of the room resemble that of the blush double-tiered dress another high-profile guest, Oprah Winfrey, wore.Ī royal-wedding commission is largely considered to be a career-defining achievement - one that pushes a designer’s business to a higher league of fame and profitability. There, in pride of place, stands the toile of the halter gown Meghan Markle famously wore to her wedding reception at Frogmore House. And in each corner of the room are mannequins dressed in the now-iconic pieces that catapulted Stella’s name onto the screens of 1.9 billion viewers just weeks before: the dresses she created for the royal wedding. It’s filled with pieces that have personal meaning to her: an installation of ceramic figurines made by her staff, and framed images of her parents, Sir Paul and Linda McCartney. We’re sitting on the top floor – a plush, white-walled space for special client appointments and events. She’s just become the sole owner of her company, having bought out Kering’s 5O% share, and opened a new store, which is equal parts visual palimpsest (the four-floor space is decorated with impressive feats in recycling, such as ‘marble’ that is actually recycled foam) and technical innovation (the shop boasts the cleanest air in London, thanks to the cutting-edge filtration technology created by Airlabs). And that’s not because environmentalism has become fashionable. Stella McCartney - the famous daughter-of turned famous-in-her-own-right designer, business owner, mother, wife and environmental activist - is enjoying a career high after 22 years in business. As an entire generation of consumers and a growing list of brands begin to grasp the extent to which decades of unchecked consumption have damaged the planet, Stella’s sustainable practices suddenly look like a no-brainer. Back then, planet-friendly clothing was anathema to fashion - the visually lacklustre stuff of hemp sack cloths and Birkenstocks. Roughly two decades ago, when Stella was a young Central Saint Martins graduate just starting out as a vegetarian designer with a no-leather/no-fur policy, most in the fashion world dismissed this kind of talk. Everyone else is changing, but the fashion industry is doing the same old stuff, and getting away with it. 'The fashion industry has been using the same ten materials for the past 2OO to 3OO years – come on, guys: the food industry is changing faster than that. But I am here to tell you and show you otherwise. People are being fed a lie, and if they want to take it, fine. ‘I had to train the technicians on the machines to use this material. Trust me, these shoes cost more to make than a pair of leather shoes,’ she says.
‘It’s such an out-of-date way of thinking.