Stella McCartney is one of the most sustainable producers in
the UK and as an animal lover, her main concerns lie amongst the leather and
fur industry which has influenced her feelings towards the production on
clothing and this made her want to be as ethical as possible. You can see the
passion in Stella McCartney’s company statement; “We understand that it is our
responsibility to do what we can to become a more sustainable company. We are
responsible for the resources that we use and the impact that we have. We are
always exploring new and innovative ways to become more sustainable”. They
refuse to use leather, skins or fur in any of their collections/collaborations
with other clients or companies. I find this admirable because as a company you
want to appeal to a mass market and a large majority of consumers love the look
of animal skin and fur on their clothes.
However, Stella went with her passion
and continued to remain sustainable, adamant that she will make luxurious
sustainable clothing. Animal skins are filled with toxic chemicals which prevent
them from decomposing, just like leather, the process of making leather
stabilizes the fibers so they stop biodegrading. This ruins the environment and
McCartney is right to be going against these industries. One brand cannot
abandon this issue so Stella decided to join the Kering Group (a group that
promotes sustainability) with the goal of reducing the impact on the
environment by 25% over the next four years. In a recent interview, Stella
McCartney said “I don’t think
that ‘eco’ should be a word that
immediately conjures up images of oatmeal-coloured garments … I don’t think that things have to look ugly
because they’re organic; why
can’t they be beautiful as
well?” As you can see from the majority of my blog posts, I always admire
people that stick by their mottos and take risks!
Why be like everybody else?
Quotations referenced from the website:
http://www.stellamccartney.com/experience/en/stellas-world/sustainability/stella-interview/
