‘You only ever really want to make Your parents proud’
AS SHE CELEBRATES THE 2OTH ANNIVERSARY OF HER ICONIC FASHION HOUSE, WE PAY TRIBUTE TO STELLA MCCARTNEY
When your parents include one of the world’s most talented musicians and a celebrated photographer, it’s a given that you’ll have creative genes. But for Stella Mccartney, hard work has also played a factor in building her fashion brand and she is now estimated to be worth over £50million.
This year marks 20 years since the start of her iconic fashion house and will also see the mogul turn 50.
Born in Camberwell, London, on 13 September 1971, Stella is one of Paul and Linda Mccartney’s four children. Her father adopted Linda’s daughter Heather, before the couple welcomed Mary, middle child Stella and son, James.
Despite their fame, the pair wanted their children to have as normal an upbringing as possible and sent them to local comprehensive schools near their home in Surrey.
“I think I always knew they were famous, but it was the norm,” Stella once told an interviewer. “It was kind of mad – one minute you’re hanging out with Michael Jackson, the next you’re riding a horse or getting on the school bus.”
From a young age, Stella developed an interest in fashion. At 13, she designed her first jacket and three years later she interned with French fashion designer Christian Lacroix. She then went on to work for her father’s Savile Row tailor, Edward Sexton.
After studying for a foundation in fashion, Stella enrolled at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in the early 90s. Her graduate show would become headline news in 1995, when her close friends Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Yasmin Le Bon walked her catwalk. “I look back on that moment and feel a bit embarrassed that I was so naive,” she told Kirsty Young on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. “They were my mates and that’s who I was hanging out with at college. Kate was even living with me for a time, so when it came to choosing the models for my degree show, I thought, ‘Well I might as well ask my friends.’ I can understand why it was headline news and may have pissed my fellow students off a tad, but it was a very Brit moment.”
Following her graduation, Stella was hired as the creative director of luxury French house Chloé. Her mother Linda sadly passed away from breast cancer the following year, aged 58. Stella struggled with her mental health after her mother died, later revealing she turned to Transcendental Meditation – a practice popularised by her father in the 60s – to help cope with her loss. “When my mum died, Dad, my brother and I went to see the [Indian guru] Maharishi... I suppressed my emotions and started having panic attacks, physical reactions to that loss.”
Stella remained working at Chloé until 2001, when she left to launch her now legendary fashion house. In August 2003, she married British publisher Alasdhair Willis in a gorgeous wedding dress that was reworked from the gown her mother had worn decades earlier. A few months later, she became a half-sister when her father Paul’s new wife, Heather Mills, gave birth to a girl, Beatrice.
While Stella’s fashion house took off, winning her Best Designer of the Year on more than one occasion, she also became a mother. Miller Alasdhair James Willis was born in 2005, followed by Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis in 2006, Beckett Robert Lee Willis in 2008 and Reiley Dilys Stella Willis in 2010.
Despite a busy home life, Stella’s career continued to soar. She launched a fragrance and menswear line and in 2010 was appointed Team GB’S Creative Director for the 2012 Olympics by Adidas. In 2013, she was awarded an OBE for her services to fashion. Speaking about how her mum would have felt about her achievements, Stella said, “I think she’d just want me to be happy and healthy. But she’s a mummy and I’m her baby, so I think she’d want to make sure I’m OK. As a child you only really ever want to make your parents proud.”
More recently, Stella has honoured her late mother by launching the Stella Mccartney Cares Foundation, a charity dedicated to breast cancer. A lifelong vegetarian with a passion for animal conservation, Stella has also followed in her mother’s beliefs by launching a new fashion industry charter for climate action in collaboration with the United Nations. “I’m not interested in landfill, I’m interested in re-use and continuous design,” she once explained about her views on sustainable clothing.
She’s also teamed up with her father Paul and sister Mary to release a cookbook full of her mother’s vegetarian recipes. Other career highlights include designing the halterneck gown Meghan Markle wore to her wedding reception and a collection with Taylor Swift.
Throughout it all, Stella has remained grounded, recently admitting she still gets excited when she sees someone wearing her clothing or accessories. “I’m really embarrassing and go up to people in the street and say, ‘Nice bag!’ For me it’s an achievement.”