17 July 2024

The Whys and Wherefores of Stella McCartney

Katie Kutskill, Leather Industry Advocate | Consultant | Sustainability Geek writes on LinkedIn:

“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” A Linda and Paul McCartney quote. Today, “glass walls” are videos posted on social media, where the 20% speaks for the 80, and yet 6.5 billion people still eat meat. Why then is animal-free trending?

A short history of Stella McCartney will begin to answer this question. But in addition to her animal-free passion, she has something that previous generations didn’t: online marketing. She has obtained influence with having the most views, most likes, and ultimately, the loudest voice. Truth really isn’t a factor.

Stella McCartney is the daughter of Paul McCartney, from the world-famous Beatles, and Linda McCartney, a photographer and animal-rights activist. Linda paved the way for meat-free eating and jointly raised their children under the umbrella of animal rights. In the UK, their family launched “Meat-Free Mondays” in 2009, and in 2022, they requested Starbucks drop the vegan milk surcharge—they did later that year.

It’s obvious where Stella gets her passion. She isn’t wrong for holding her ground on her beliefs. What is wrong is using her influence to share incomplete, inaccurate data with innocent consumers.

Stella designed her own clothing at 13, landed internships at Christian Lacroix and British Vogue, and graduated with a bang from a fashion show at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. She went on to the Chloé fashion house in 1997, where she adamantly refused to work with animal products.

In 2001, Stella left Chloé to start her self-named brand with Gucci Group, an odd partnership given Gucci’s investment in animal products. Some suggest Stella did this strategically, viewing the partnership as an opportunity to infiltrate the “system.” This may be true—or simply a ruse to allow her to reap the benefit of animal-product funds while denying she has “blood” on her hands. Either way, I’m not sure the infiltration worked.

Stella became a sole proprietor in 2018 and partnered with LVMH a year later. That same year, she told British Vogue, “Killing animals is the most destructive thing you can do in the fashion industry.” Funny, Stella. You claim using animal products is the most destructive thing you can do, and yet you take money from one of the largest fashion houses that use real leather (and own tanneries themselves!) to line your vegan pockets.

Stella has created a cloud of questions, producing vegan bags over $1000 a piece (with a profit margin that I can only guess is near 90%), touting her righteous claims that aim to destroy the reputation of an industry that feeds the world and was one of the first to upcycle their waste! With studies now proving the CO2 footprint of real leather was exaggerated by over 640%, it is clear that this isn’t just about saving the planet – it is about infiltrating quality fashion houses to spread misinformation for your own benefit. And who are the ones that suffer? That’s right: humans. the consumers.

關於亞太區皮革展 ​

我們為皮革、物料及時裝業界創造面對面洽談的機會,爲客戶締造實質商機。我們雲集世界各地的商家,讓他們尋找新的合作伙伴,發掘潛在客戶或供應商,並掌握業界最新發展。

 

我們主辦多個專注時尚及生活潮流的商貿展覽會, 為這不斷變化的行業,提供最全面的買家及參展商服務,方便他們了解急速轉變的行業環境,並預測來季趨勢。

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