Page 144 - Vogue - India (January 2020)

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with the rest of the industry,” as she recalls.
Even now, she says, “every single day in our
office is this sort of daily challenge—a way of
trying to perfect and persist and find realistic
solutions within the luxury fashion sector—
and even in a more broadstream way with the
collaborations with Adidas [initiated in 2004].
Each day,” she says, “there are questions that I
ask that we try to find an answer for. And if we
can’t, we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Despite what she refers to as “a lot of resist-
ance,” McCartney turned the Chloé gig (which
lasted through the launch of her self-titled
brand in 2001) into a triumph, tripling sales.
Today, as we march inexorably to global Arma-
geddon, her commitment to cruelty-free fash-
ion and sustainability is fast becoming the in-
dustry norm. In recent years, for instance,
luxury brands including Gucci, Prada, Michael
Kors, Armani and Chanel have declared them-
selves fur-free. “I’m hugely relieved,” says Mc-
Cartney, “but I’m actually astounded that it’s
taken so long.”
McCartney now gives scholarships at Central
Saint Martins, her alma mater, for students
who “adhere to our ethical charter,” and helps
young designers navigate the complicated ter-
rain of sustainability. “We’re in the farming
industry in fashion,” she says. “We look at the
biodiversity and the soil. It’s crazy. It’s basical-
ly exhausting. It’s much easier not to do it. So
I kind of understand why the world hasn’t
quite followed.”
But McCartney has far more ambitious goals
for expanding her global industry reach. Last
year, she bought back full ownership of her la-
bel from Kering, 17 years after the group’s then-
creative director Tom Ford had urged the com-
pany to invest in McCartney’s fledgling brand.
Following her move, “people began to show an
interest quite quickly,” as McCartney recalls. “I
was fortunate enough that Mr. Arnault was one
of the people.” She’s speaking, of course, of Ber-
nard Arnault, the all-powerful chairman and
chief executive of LVMH, which acquired a mi-
nority share in Stella McCartney in July 2019.
“I think it’s incredibly exciting. It sends a big,
big message to the industry if Mr Arnault is ask-
ing me to be his personal adviser on sustainabil-
ity at LVMH. I think that was one of the attrac-
tions for me—it is a big, timely statement, and
hopefully game-changing for all of us.”
McCartney points out that the fashion
brands with the biggest environmental impact COURTESY STELLA MCCARTNEY; INDIGITAL MEDIA
in terms of scale are “the high-end luxury hous-
es, and then the fast-fashion sector. They have
massive impact in a negative way, and they
can have a massive impact in a positive way.”
These fast-fashion retailers, as she observes,

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