by Emily Mongan
With rock star parentage and a graduation runway show that featured Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, Stella McCartney’s rise to fashion fame was anything but ordinary. McCartney was born in London in 1971 to former Beatle Paul McCartney and his American photographer wife Linda, and grew up on tour with her parents’ band Wings for the first nine years of her life. At age 15 McCartney worked as an intern with fashion designer Christian Lacroix, and went on to study fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Her graduation runway show included clothes modeled by her friends, who just happened to include supermodels Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Kate Moss.
In 1997 McCartney was hired as creative director of Chloé, and went on to design several successful collections for the French fashion house despite criticism from previous creative director Karl Lagerfeld that she was only hired because of her name. McCartney launched her own fashion house in 2001, and has since expanded her brand to include women’s fashions, lingerie, handbags, eye wear, shoes, children’s fashions and perfume. She’s also collaborated with companies including H&M and Adidas, who she worked alongside with as the creative director for Team Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics. McCartney is an outspoken animal rights advocate and refuses to use leather or fur in any of her designs, due in part to her parent’s vegetarianism and her upbringing on an organic farm. McCartney has said in interviews that the “Stella” woman is inspired in part by her mother , who passed away in 1998. “That ease, that freedom and confidence. That’s what I want to help the Stella woman to find.”
The latest projects from Stella McCartney include the campaign for the Winter 2014 collection, modeled by pal Kate Moss in a dreamy series of images and a short film styled by the designer. This summer McCartney relaunched her signature fragrance, Stella, which originally debuted in 2003, yes that long ago! The relaunch gave the perfume’s packaging a face lift, with a new plum-colored glass bottle with gold accents that resembles an amethyst crystal. The perfume itself, which draws its inspiration from McCartney’s country home, remains unchanged, thank goodness, this is such a classic fragrance it can’t change too many of us love it. The scent is made up of a blend of rose, amber and peony and is the perfect blend of feminine and sexy, one of my favourites. Over ten years ago when Stella launched her perfume she was one of the few people to put rose in a perfume, but she insisted on it and it has lead the way for so many other perfumes since.
The fragrance’s new look is highlighted in an ad campaign featuring model Lara Stone, who showcases the perfume’s updated bottle in a series of daring black and white photos. “Stella is a celebration of women, and Lara is the perfect representation,” McCartney said. “She brings the ideas of the fragrance alive, in an honest way, she is a modern woman who is approachable and sensual at the same time.” In addition to Stella, McCartney launched a second fragrance, L.I.L.Y., in 2012 in memory of her mother and her favorite flower. The relaunched Stella is now available in three different sizes here ranging in price from £42 to £74, as well as a body lotion for £40.