About Sustaining Voices

Sourcing Journal’s Sustaining Voices celebrates the efforts the apparel industry is making toward securing a more environmentally responsible future through creative innovations, scalable solutions and forward-thinking initiatives that are spinning intent into action.

Overview

The Stella McCartney continues to set the standard for “practice what you preach” through savvy partnerships that improve sustainability industry-wide.

The number of freestanding Stell McCartney stores worldwide
51

The number of freestanding Stell McCartney stores worldwide

The business stake that Stella McCartney bought back from Kering in 2018
50

The business stake that Stella McCartney bought back from Kering in 2018

The amount of airborne pollutants removed by special filters in Stella McCarney's London flagship store
95

The amount of airborne pollutants removed by special filters in Stella McCarney's London flagship store

Deep Dive

Stella McCartney has become a byword for ethical fashion in an industry known for greed, callousness and pollution—and no wonder.

Hailed as an “icon of sustainability,” the British designer has been a trailblazer for responsible manufacturing. In addition to setting the benchmark for animal rights in fashion with her collections by famously eschewing leather, skin, fur and feathers, McCartney has become a vocal critic of so-called “fast fashion” and its damaging implications on the environment. She walks the talk, too. Her brand is an early adopter of alternative materials, such as Bolt Threads’ synthetic spider silk, mushroom-root “leather” and recycled ocean plastic.

A ready collaborator in the name of change—the brand teamed with Adidas earlier this year for a vegan sneaker—McCartney is going back to basics by turning attention to the next generation of designers. Through her eponymous foundation, McCartney hopes to bridge any sustainability-related gaps in design-school curriculum.

Upon announcing the initiative at the Textile Exchange conference in Milan in 2018, Claire Bergkamp, worldwide sustainability and innovation director at Stella McCartney, said this may have an impact in the future as creative directors set the tone for the brands they manage.

“We are genuinely trying to empower the next generation of designers with knowledge and skills around sustainability,” Bergkamp said.

The company is also piloting a program with Google that leverages machine learning and data analytics to provide brands with greater transparency into their supply chains. It will initially focus on raw materials—beginning with cotton and viscose production—and will be tested for broader use with other materials and companies.

McCartney acknowledged the difficult road the industry faces in pursuit of greener fashion.

“At Stella McCartney we have been continuously focusing on looking at responsible and sustainable ways to conduct ourselves in fashion,” she said in May. “It is at the heart of what we do. We are trying our best—we aren’t perfect, but we are opening a conversation that hasn’t really been had in the history of fashion.”


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