Born and raised in London, Stella McCartney graduated from Central St Martins in 1995. A signature style of sharp tailoring, natural confidence and sexy femininity was immediately apparent in her first collection.
After only two collections, in 1997, she was appointed the Creative Director of Chloe. At first, many questioned her appointment, and wondered if her rock star father and famous family had anything to do with the decision. McCartney proved her talent without a doubt after a few collections for Chloe, and silenced her critics with her sexy, cool, and quirky designs.
In 2001, Stella McCartney launched her own fashion house under her name in a joint venture with Gucci Group and showed her first collection in Paris in October 2001.
A lifelong vegetarian, Stella McCartney does not use any leather or fur in her designs. She famously turned down Tom Ford's position at Gucci due to the fact that the label uses so much fur in their fashion.
Her collections include women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, eyewear, fragrance and organic skincare. Her perfume, “Stella”, launched successfully in September 2003.
Stella McCartney operates 11 stores, including flagships in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, London’s Mayfair, LA’s West Hollywood and Paris’ Palais Royal, and recently opened doors in Shanghai, Beijing, Bahrain, Bangalore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Kuwait. Her collections are now distributed in over 50 countries through 600 wholesale accounts including specialty shops and department stores.
Stella McCartney has ventured outside the world of fashion through several collaborations with artists including Gary Hume in 2002, David Remfry in 2002, Robert Crumb in 2005, and with Jeff Koons on her Spring/Summer 2006 collection using his prints on dresses and accessories.
In addition to the main line collection, a long-term partnership with adidas was introduced in September 2004. The critically acclaimed sports performance collection “adidas by Stella McCartney,” has since successfully grown to include several sports categories including running, gym, yoga, tennis, swimming, dance, golf and wintersports.
In November 2005, the hugely successful one-off collection “Stella McCartney for H&M” sold out worldwide in record time. In September 2006, “Stella In Two”, a new interpretation of her successful fragrance “Stella” introduced a new way to customize fragrance by splitting the notes of the original fragrance into the liquid Peony and the solid perfume, Amber, which can either be worn alone or layered.
In 2007, Stella McCartney unveiled CARE by Stella McCartney, the first luxury organic skincare line, containing 100% organic active ingredients which took more than 3 years to develop, in collaboration with YSL Beaute. In 2008, a new lingerie line and a limited edition travel collection with LeSportsac.
The following awards have recognized Stella McCartney’s achievement in fashion and social awareness: VH1/Vogue Fashion and Music 2000 Designer of the Year Award (2000, NY), the Woman of Courage Award for work against cancer at the prestigious Unforgettable Evening event (2003, LA), the Glamour Award for Best Designer of the Year (2004, London), the Star Honoree at the Fashion Group International Night of the Stars (2004, NY), the Organic Style Woman of the Year Award (2005, NY), the Elle Style Award for Best Designer of the Year Award (2007, London), Best Designer of The Year at the British Style Awards (2007, London), Best Designer of The Year at the Spanish Elle Awards (2008, Barcelona) and the Green Designer of the Year at the ACE Awards (2008, NY).
[show less]
