Stella McCartney: The Luxury Fashion Industry Reinvented

Stella McCartney changed the luxury fashion business forever with her sustainable fashion line and accessories.  In 2001 she launched her company, and her leather-free, fur-free collections, turning sustainability into a global business.  Her collections are 53% ethically and sustainably sourced.

As the fashion industry is moving towards reinventing what luxury means, innovating sustainable product lines has always been McCartney’s main focus. Building sustainability into fashion and reducing the fashion industry’s impact on the planet is how she wants to make a difference. A passionate activist, she is involved in campaigning for animal rights and women’s health and safety.

Her accessories line, Falabella bags, and shoes, are all made from faux leather, and are highly successful and iconic. Even her Adidas collections are eco-friendly and made with 100% recyled polyester. McCartney’s products never compromise style and are staples for the conscious consumer of the luxury fashion industry.

She thinks fashion should be fun, luxurious and desirable, but we should be consuming in a more conscious way. She says:”Now is the time for change, now is the time to look at what can be done and how technology can save us.”

Stella McCartney is an inspired leader among fashion designers. She hopes to grow her business by making people more aware of the impact fashion has on the environment.  She says that part of innovation and growth is questioning how products are manufactured. The long-term trend in fashion is to  implement advancements in technology to develop sustainable materials.

According to the EPA and PETA, the process of making leather products poses a huge threat to the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, water consumption and waste. Huge amounts of chemicals are used to manufacture leather products. Toxic formaldehyde and chromium are just some of the chemicals used in leather manufacturing which get released into the environment. Raising animals whose skin is turned into leather requires vast amounts of water. Animal excrement from leather factory animals causes water pollution and is the greatest threat to our nation’s waterways.  Furthermore, workers of the leather industry, including child workers, are regularly exposed to arsenic, and have a higher risk of developing lung cancer.

Extreme animal cruelty is connected to the supply chain of the leather and fur industry, but, fortunately, people are changing the way they relate to animals and the environment.  While fur and leather products were once perceived as luxurious and traditional staples of the fashion industry, today they are not considered modern.  Respect for animals and a greater sense of social responsibility are going to make supply chains that revolve around animals, a thing of the past.

Animal welfare in the fashion industry is becoming more emphasized because consumers want nothing to do with outdated and inherently cruel products.  Recently, the fashion brand Gucci has committed to going fur-free starting in 2018. The brand will no longer use any type of animal fur including: coyote, mink, fox, rabbit or karakul, which is a breed of domestic sheep. The Italian luxury brand’s president and chief executive Marco Bizzarri said:

“Being socially responsible is one of Gucci’s core values, and we will continue to strive to do better for the environment and animals.”

Gucci will join the Fur Free Alliance, an international organization that campaigns for animal welfare and encourages alternatives to fur. The Chairman of the alliance, Joh Vinding said: “For decades, animals in the fur industry has been subjected to intense cruelty, living their entire lives in miserable, filthy cages. Gucci’s new fur free policy marks a game-changer for the whole luxury fashion industry to follow.”

Gucci joins fashion brands Stella McCartney, Armani, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss and Vivienne Westwood committed to not using fur.

The polluting production of fashion is changing, Stella McCartney says: “Fashion is one of the most far-behind industries of mass scale. It gets away with murder.” The next step, should be a growing awareness of what we buy: People are more conscious of what they consume: food, how they travel.”

She hopes the day will come when the “ingredients” of garments, including their environmental and human costs, will be labeled.

McCartney has innovated with her new viscose program to address the issue of deforestation.  She now sources her viscose from sustainably certified forests in Sweden.  Every year, 120 million trees are cut down for viscose production. Stella McCartney’s company is taking action to keep our planet’s climate stable by protecting forests and the loss of habitat for millions of species of plants and animals.  She also uses organic cotton, regenerated cashmere, vegan leather, recycled soles on her footwear and sustainable woods in her stores.  Her faux fur is such high quality, you cannot tell the difference.

Stella McCartney’s innovative development of textiles  to create sustainable products that look and feel as we want them to, has reinvented the fashion industry. She doesn’t sacrifice style for fashion, but says that people should ask questions when consuming.

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