Stella McCartney has a sustainable fashion blueprint like this

When I set off to see Stella McCartney, the radio in the room was holding "Penny Lane." I asked Uber driver Tariq, his understanding of Paul McCartney. He replied, "The Beatles?" Again, but he knows to avoid Abby Road on Saturday, as many visitors recreate the Beatles' last album cover at the famous crossroads outside. Linda McCartney, although not a household name, is familiar with her vegetarianism (Tariq does not eat meat), he has seen Stella's store, so he knows she is engaged in fashion business.

This is surprising, and certainly atypical, not a fickle comment on fame, not a contemporary reflection of its particularity. The word “authenticity” has been shocked by the fashion world for the past decade. Recently, I heard that it was replaced by "relevance." Since establishing a joint venture with Gucci Group (now known as Kaiyun Group) in 2001, Stella has been working on so-called “conscious consumption” during his career, which may be more relevant to fashion.

"My career began with Paul McCartney's daughter, this is my headline news," she muttered. “Then they started putting vegetarian and non-leather, morality and sustainability together, which is almost another 'you are weird' saying, and now they come to this place and they say, “Maybe you have some truth. ”

Earlier this year, after 17 years of cooperation, the Kaiyun Group sold its 50% share to Stella. The designer's new independence excites her and scares her. “But I always thrive because of uncertainty,” she claims. It is easy to imagine that this confidence comes from her beliefs, or hell or mountain, she always does what she thinks is right. “Our roots are authentic, but what matters to us is honesty,” she said as we finally spoke in the cafeteria at the West London headquarters. "At the core of authenticity, you must have an honest reason to do what you do." I think it started with her family: the family she was born with, and the family she and her husband Alasdhair created, Willis It is also the creative director of the traditional British brand Hunter.

We must be sincere, and the most important thing for us is honesty. You must have an honest reason to do what you do. In her mind, the moment is not about the shadow of her mother. Every morning, 7-year-old son Reiley goes to school (she has four children attending four different schools, so every morning she wants to shuttle between different schools), she will play "Seaside Woman", this is the mother in 1977 A song written in the year, later became a cartoon. In 1980, he won the short film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. "I never really let my mother's music go to the kids," Stella pondered. She hopes that they will listen at some point, but now Reiley is more interested in becoming a vet or a dog walker, the other three children, 13-year-old Miller, 11-year-old Beckett and 10-year-old Bailey. Each has a very different path. "This is very strange, but I am very different from all my brothers and sisters."

Recently, Stella has been worried that she will become the mother of three teenagers. She is aware of recent announcements from Silicon Valley, in which the masters of the digital age will not let their children access electronic products. “In this generation, this is a large-scale parenting dialogue. I realized the way I live with my parents. When they go to the show, they will leave us at the hotel and the waiter who drives the turntable. We are like this. Parents lack genius ideas like this."

This is not to say that McCartney's parents have never felt enough attention or protection from their parents. Stella talked about leaving the "crazy circle" - the big family of the Beatles, Scotland or the country. "That is the survival instinct of mom and dad. I grew up in a two-bedroom roundhouse in this country, with six of us. I talked a lot about these things with my sister Mary. Bareback riding, boring life, these are The best memories of our lives. "And they always show her inspiration on the wall.

“I can see myself as a five-year-old child with eyes flush with boots and shoes, from soft leather shoes and cowboy boots to dad’s teddy bear shoes and sneakers to the stage’s flash platform boots. The most feminine image It’s gorgeous rock, but the men are also wearing gorgeous rock music, no gender distinction. I found a lot of things, I think it’s my mother, but it’s actually my father’s. It’s the way I work and my lifestyle. A huge impact. The relationship between men and women is seamless, this is the real element of the double sex I have done."

You feel that her experience as a "helicopter parent" proves to be a special challenge.

“I know very well that we live in London. The situation of the children is very different from the situation when I grew up. God knows how we have become like this. But we have a place in the country, I insist that they have to go there, feel bored, change I have to be dirty and away from the city. I hope to keep them innocent and free as long as possible."

Stella McCartney series by Viviane Sassen | Source: The other party provides statistics from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, unless global warming continues to be below 1.5 °C (already admitted to be virtually impossible), 2040 may be us An important moment of human extinction. According to the World Wildlife Fund, we have done a good job of destroying other life on Earth: 60% of the world's animal population has disappeared since 1970. At the same time, the fashion industry is the second largest source of pollution on the planet, with annual greenhouse gas emissions of 1.2 billion tons. All in all, it is hardly the most optimistic period for a 47-year-old idealist activist to work in the fashion world and raise four young people.

Once upon a time, such statistics would make her angry. Maybe the children have changed. When we talked, she occasionally came slowly, but she insisted that “anyone who tries to change things in a positive way through business models will be frustrated. My cup is very “half full.” If I feel that there is no reason for this. Do, I won't do what I do. I know very well that at the moment I create anything, it becomes a statement. Recycled cashmere, non-leather... I know I am producing a more environmentally friendly Products, as well as the health of our species. I know that in the industry, I am the best example to date. This gives me the will to move on."

"This is a problem of excess, and this is where the problem lies. The fashion industry is over-extended," she said. “We wear it three times before we throw them away. Why? Who are we? We are so vulgar. I know that our company is not perfect, but excess is a big problem that I can't accept.”

This is the voice Stella pulls to speak to her customers. This is the voice of common sense, the sound of reason, actually. “My conversation didn’t start with an environmental dialogue,” she said. "From the first day, I said, 'We don't want to kill innocent creatures.' This is really the core of what I do. If I face animal welfare or environmental issues, I will always choose animal welfare. We are counting Not many brands do environmental profits and losses – and the biggest impact we have in a positive way is not to use leather.”

In fact, according to Kering's latest environmental profit and loss assessment, Stella's use of recycled polyester has a fourfold less negative impact than French leather, and the negative impact is 24 times less than Brazilian leather. The assessment is trying to quantify the environmental impact of production.

Her anti-leather stance made her opposed to most of Kering's peers, the group that introduced environmental profits and losses overall to measure its impact on the planet in 2016, but to a large extent the group relied on leather goods ( Especially leather handbags) to promote sales. It has been rumored for a while that Tom Ford was keen to let Stella take over Gucci and focus on Yves Saint Laurent, but his wishful thinking was silenced by her refusal to use the brand's animal leather.

From the first day, I said, 'Let's not kill innocent creatures'. This is really the core of what I do. She admits that "saying no" is a good fit for her: her mother is a Russian Jew and her father is an Irish Scot. At the same time, she is free to admit the argument that her growth means that she has never had to dilute the resentful cry in any way. "I know that I always have stable finances. I always have a family. I admire those who have no background. They don't have the insight of the world through their parents' eyes.

One of Stella's highest compliments to Others is the labeling of "punk rock." Like her "Nete" Stan Smith sneakers, this was specially customized by her husband who commissioned Adidas many years ago. “Every day I say to people, 'Don’t worry, they’re not skinny.' Whenever I see the CEO of Adidas, I would say, 'Why can’t you make all your Stan Smith shoes non-leather And don't tell your consumers that they will never notice. Then he can say, 'Guess what? Two years have passed, you have not noticed how many animals you have saved, how much water, how much Land area, how many Amazon rainforests, how much electricity, you have actually done this. 'Give the power of the people! This is punk rock! This will be a powerful thing. Adidas customers will like this. But He didn't listen to me." (CEO Kasper R?rsted did follow Stella, but only launched this leatherless Stan Smith shoe in his 13th anniversary series.)

The idea of ​​unconsciously doing good has aroused her interest. Another opposition, this time is her belief in conscious consumption? “Our motivation is the core value of the brand. Customers sometimes don’t even know. Even some people working here don’t know that our glue is ecological, for example I don't need anyone to know that half of the time I don't even want others to know that it is not a purse."

There is no doubt that Stella is a pragmatist. She knows that the most important thing is to create a product that people want. "The future of fashion must be that you should not sacrifice your own style, sacrifice your brand, sacrifice others to pay in the food chain, just to have better, more ethical products. That's not what I want to do. I am not trying Make a new compromise in any way, form or form. "She has a group of loyal consumers who respond to her on the handbag of that shoe. “But now I am getting young people to thank me for making ethical fashion, not killing animals. That's why I am struggling at the price point. Because I make products in an ethical way, my cost is higher.”

Stella McCartney Fall/Winter 2017 Collection | Source: The other party offers, so when Stella says, “If I were a kid, I entered the tech field,” it was hardly shocking. I want to know how to use the $500 billion worth of waste in the fashion industry. I won't worry about making things. Every second has a lot of fast and stylish landfills. I will accept it and do business from it. One of my company's departments is doing this, focusing on technology and looking to the future. This is 90% of our internal work, such as the development of viscose with sustainable wood, which does not cut 150 million trees a year. We spent three years, all at my own expense. We have created a product and guaranteed its source in Sweden. Now, can you use it? I am now turning my attention to fake fur. ”

When we live in a diamond, animal fur and fur can quickly be in the world of mass production in the laboratory, the traditional value system has been valued by this traditional luxury sign and needs to be reassessed. Stella said: "I feel that the concept of scarcity is accompanied by romance, but fur is not scarce. With skin without skin and skin, people need to know that you can't distinguish them."

However, the fake fur was slammed for its environmental impact. “When I started at Chloé and talked about fake fur, it just didn't use animals, not environmental problems. Then I haven't touched this material for a long time because it looks real, I think it promotes real fur. Consumption. But I started to be interested in the kind of fake fur, the young people asked me why I didn't do that, big and luxurious family fur, they wanted the kind of fake fur to bring the image, huge Profile and matching fashion statement."

“I know this will have an environmental impact, but for real fur, they are worth ten times more: chemicals, land use, water consumption, energy efficiency. Of course, fur people will say they are more natural and better. Because this is their PR strategy, they know they have to do something to maintain relevance and dialogue rather than look like mass murderers, but they are very powerful. They have a lot of bride price. When I was in college, They didn't sponsor the students, they said, "With fur, we will pay for all the expenses of your graduation project. "I now sponsor the students of St. Martin. I give them a moral charter. In order to get my sponsorship, they must honor these regulations."

Stella always said this must be done. “As a company, I have sacrificed a lot in the economy. To make a non-leather bag and import it into the United States and suffer a 30% tax cut because it is not leather? This law must have a history of hundreds of years. Will it be said that this is a long-term law to protect the cattle to bring the cattle industry to the United States? When will the policy change to actually motivate the company? Why does it cost 70% of the cost to make a non-leather bag? I will not use this from customers. Part of the expenditure is recovered, I can only reduce my profits."

On the other hand, Stella may point out that China's decision to restrict imports of recycled plastics helps push waste and recycling to the top of the policy agenda. However, she said she is one of the few people who will not sell perfumes in China, because cosmetic companies doing business there must conduct animal testing.

The truth is that morality does not promote the economy, but the economy drives morality. “This is the only way,” Stella agreed. "The survival of mankind is at the heart of everything on this planet. The future of economics and politics must save the planet on which we live. Millions of animals die every day from food or handbags. Hundreds of football-sized areas per hour. It is used to feed cattle, but when they can grow meat in the lab, it will no longer be a business. The question is, can they do it in time? We only have so much. By 2050, There is more garbage in the ocean than marine life. When can I start doing this in my interview? Now we can make this conversation, where I think we are consistent, and I am not ridiculed, but at what stage I can talk about the billions of dead animals and the places where they were killed? Just like guns, they can't say dirty trades."

She felt the urgency of the future. “What interests me is that this is a young people’s sport because they know they are being screwed up. They ask questions about their lifestyles and what they consume. Every business forum is concerned. "How do we position them?" I am deeply offended by the word "goal" because they don't care about them. Look at the warehouses of those who say they don't use fur. Where are all those fur gloves going? This will be Tricky. So let's really talk."

When I'm dealing with statistics, think about the karma that humans are doing to the planet. There, Stella's lofty ideal sounded like a spirit of like-mindedness. But then she said, "Fire extinguishing with fire does not succeed. You must open a dialogue gently, you must have some heartfelt giving and acceptance. I want to influence them with goodwill, I have seen my excessive behavior so that The mother received the injury, which also affected my early career."

"You can't say that I have given up. I will be here 20 years later. I can talk to important people in this area, they can see the numbers and results, show people that you can do and have a healthy business. “It is true that a Citigroup analyst estimates that her brand sales are about 260 million euros ($320 million in 2017), which does not include her partnership with Adidas or Procter & Gamble. This is not a comparison with Gucci, but it proves that when the world awakens moral consumption, she is a force to be reckoned with, and has a blueprint for how others can do this. “This may be how I make a little difference,” concludes Stella. "No matter what the moral foundation, if you don't have a healthy business, then anyone who manipulates the shift will notice. This is not a charity, isn't it?"