STELLAAAAA

Sustainable and luxurious? It just can’t be!

Amusingly, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this groundbreaking designer is the historic “Stella! Hey, Stella!” quote from Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Just as “Stella! Hey, Stella!” is an iconic quote from a legendary play, Stella McCartney and her continued efforts towards a more sustainable fashion industry have been revolutionary since her first ready-to-wear collection in 2001 (Farra, 2019a).

Stella McCartney in Vogue’s September 2018 issue.

In her own designs and production processes, McCartney “...has never used leather or fur, doesn’t throw away or burn unsold products, champions secondhand shopping, and invests heavily in sustainable technologies” (Farra, 2019b, para. 1). Working with disruptive environmental groups like Extinction Rebellion, McCartney hopes to be provocative and innovative in an industry where old habits seem to die hard. The thing that is so interesting to me about McCartney is how, for quite some time, she has managed to quietly make sustainability not only mainstream, but luxury. For nearly two decades, McCartney has utilized sustainable practices within her own operations – pushing back against designers who claim that sustainability and luxury cannot factor together.

Extinction Rebellion activists in McCartney’s Fall 2019 campaign.

For as long as I can remember, I have lusted after McCartney’s iconic “Falabella Cross Body Bag.” With a hefty $765 price tag, my mom said I’d have to work and save to pay for at least half the price of the bag in order to truly appreciate its luxury. It was not until Summer 2017 that I finally saved up enough money to purchase my own McCartney bag. I remember the experience vividly – going to Neiman Marcus in Charlotte’s SouthPark mall and walking out with the bag of my dreams. Affectionately named “Stella,” that bag has travelled all around the world with me. From London to Greece to Greenville, South Carolina, people everywhere knew all the details of my beloved bag. But let me be clear, prior to purchasing “Stella,” I knew nothing about how the bag was sustainably manufactured. I knew nothing of McCartney’s efforts towards a more sustainable fashion industry. It was not the social message about sustainability and the environment that sparked my love for “Stella,” it was the bag, the designer, the feeling I got, and still get to this day, when carrying that bag around. I tell this story not because I am trying to belittle McCartney’s environmental efforts and sustainable practices, I tell it to prove that sustainability and luxury can and do go hand-in-hand – you just didn’t necessarily know it.

Me with “Stella” in Paris, France Fall 2017.

Bye for now,

McGee