Stella McCartney was one of several designers who enjoyed a homecoming moment at British Vogue’s Forces of Fashion event on Saturday, held at Central Saint Martins (John Galliano, Christopher Kane, Conner Ives and Feben being the others). The designer graduated from the prestigious fashion school, then located in Charing Cross, back in 1995. “I wanted to make clothes that I wanted to wear, and I think that was quite novel at that time,” McCartney told Vogue’s Chioma Nnadi of her graduate show. Even back then, she managed to pull together quite the cast, with Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Yasmin Le Bon all walking the show. “My girlfriends were these incredible supermodels; they all wanted to support a friend, but also British fashion and student fashion,” the designer recalled, before joking: “So I know I’m the first nepo baby, I’m sorry!”
At just 25, the designer became the creative director of Chloé, following in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld, who commented that the French fashion house had appointed a big name “in music, not fashion.” That didn’t faze McCartney, though. “I think I was really naive,” McCartney reflected. “Honestly it sounds ridiculous now, I was like, nobody will notice if I take this job because Chloé was not a cool house [at the time].” Of course, people did take notice, with McCartney’s Noughties Chloé designs still being extremely covetable today. How did it feel to prove the critics wrong? “I’m still proving people wrong,” she replied. “It’s always been the case of feeling like I had to prove myself.”
Even as a young designer, McCartney was very aware of the environmental impact of fashion, refusing to use leather in her collections. “I knew from day one, I wasn’t going to be hypocritical,” she said. Nowadays, she promotes a series of innovative materials at her brand, from mushroom leather to bio-based algae sequins. “I’m a glass half full kind of person,” she replied, when asked about the future of fashion. “I have hope when I meet the young innovators I’m working with, when we’re finding solutions.”
As for her advice to the designers of the future, many of whom are studying at CSM today? “This is your moment to push yourself and to explore how far you can go creatively,” McCartney urged. “I would ask you all to be considerate and conscious of the impact that your work has, and try and think beyond just yourself. And try to enjoy it.”