Stella McCartney is fighting fast fashion with her most sustainable fashion show yet.
During Paris Fashion Week, McCartney presented an eco-friendly collection while leaving what some called her “plea for the planet” on each attendee’s seat. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the designer’s show notes cited the Greta Thunbergs of the world who are crying out for change as the climate crisis intensifies.
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Her pieces, meanwhile, were flowy and feminine but made out of sustainable fabrics such as recycled polyester, organic cotton and raffia, according to news reports.
“I hope that when you see that fashion show, you don’t see in any way that it’s a sustainable fashion show. And yet it is … It’s about being desirable and beautiful and luxurious,” McCartney told the AP.
McCartney has a long history of trying to make her brands sustainable and eco-friendly. She banned the use of leather, fur, skin, feather and animal glue in 2001. She went PVC free in 2010, and launched fur-free fur in 2015. Last year, she partnered with the United Nations to launch a fashion industry charter for climate action.
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McCartney continues to push for change at LVHM, a French luxury conglomerate, where she is a consultant to Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s chairman and chief executive. She has said that she has a long list of ways that LVMH can become more sustainable, such as banning plastic water bottles in the workplace.
McCartney says that she hopes that ecology does not become just a trend in fashion. In order for change to happen, it has to go beyond that.
According to the Guardian, to try and achieve change the night before the show, McCartney hosted a discussion on sustainability at the Palais Garnier in Paris. During the event, speakers like David Breslauer, the founder of Bolt Threads, a Californiabiotech company that produces lab-grown silk and other fabric, and environmentalist Yann Arthus-Bertran talked about climate change issues.
“It’s been an incredible fashion week for me, seeing how the climate crisis has become so explosive in this industry,” McCartney said backstage at the Paris Show according to Guardian. “Suddenly everyone is talking about it.”
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