Fashionpedia

Stella McCartney

"I think I have a place in the industry. I have a role. I represent something for women. I've built up trust with them and that's important."

Fashion designer Stella McCartney, daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney, was born and raised in London England. Growing up she attended state schools and worked as a dish washer in local restaurants. Before enrolling at Central St. Martins College of Art & Design she apprenticed with legendary designer Christian Lacroix. For her graduation show in 1995, she asked friends and professional supermodels Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Kate Moss to walk down the runway in her designs to a song penned by her father, called "Stella May Day". The successful collection, filled with her signature traits of sharp tailoring and sexy femininity, was immediately sold to the London boutique, Tokio. Only two years and two collections later, in March 1997, McCartney was appointed creative director at the Paris fashion house Chloé. During her four year stay, McCartney received positive reviews from fashion press and magazines since her designs helped increase sales and improved the companies’ reputation.

After leaving Chloe in 2002, McCartney with backing from the Gucci Group launched her label, ‘Stella McCartney’. That same year she opened a store in New York City’s meatpacking district and to this day McCartney operates eleven stores in several locations: Paris, London, West Hollywood, Shanghai, Bangalore, and Hong Kong to name a few. She was offered a long term partnership with Adidas in 2004, where McCartney designs collections of gym, golf, tennis, dance, swimming, running, and yoga sportswear, under the name “Adidas by Stella McCartney”. A year later she successfully designed a “one-off” collection for retailer H&M, which sold out in record time. By 2007, she unveiled the first luxury all organic skincare line named, “CARE by Stella McCartney” and announced partnerships with Bendon Lingerie and LeSportsac in 2008. After six successful years McCartney’s label now produces lines for women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, footwear, organic skincare, and fragrances.

Life Facts:
Stella McCartney, a lifelong vegetarian, refuses to use leather or fur in any of her designs. In 2004, she designed costumes for Madonna's Re-Invention Tour, Annie Lennox's summer tour, and Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law's characters’ for the film 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'. McCartney has won numerous accolades like 2000 Designer of the Year from VH1/Vogue Fashion & Music, 2003 Woman of Courage Award, 2005 Organic Style Woman of Year Award, 2007 Best Designer of Year from both Elle and British Style Awards, 2008 Designer of the Year from the Spanish Elle Awards, and the 2008 Green Designer of the Year at the Ace Awards.