Stella reins (with a nod to Stubbs and the Queen)
McCartney mixes motifs of British society with innovative fabrics in her equine-inspired show
‘If you didn’t know her stance, you would easily assume the leather and suede effects were the real thing’
Given the torrential rain in Paris yesterday (and throughout the weekend), it was pleasingly fitting that Stella McCartney imbued a distinctly British flavour to her autumn/winter collection.
She led with “equestrian-inspired tailoring”; the first look was a double-breasted checked jacket, cut long enough on the thigh to prove it was sufficient to be paired with just a bare leg, a cowl neck white shirt underneath. The structure was in keeping with the move to an emphasis on the shoulder, with the arms cut wide.
After the show, the 45-year-old designer explained that “it was about the precision of that side of Britain and then trying to question it slightly, disrupt and dismantle it”. The disruption proved itself in cleverly spliced-together pieces – another jacket had a threebreasted design with buttons lined up horizontally; cropped plaid shrugs were worn over knits featuring a giant cantering horse intarsia – the horse itself taken from the George Stubbs painting Horse Frightened by a Lion – which was also used as a pretty scene-scape print across silk midi-length dresses. There was a rather 2017 take on the Queen’s head scarf and padded green coat Balmoral look (the coat splendidly cocoon like).
More down-to-earth aspects of British life were referenced: a shell suit top and track pants – made from alter suede (fake) and recycled nylon from plastic bottles recovered from the ocean – had a cool street edge to it, as did a head to toe “skin-free skin” leather-look bomber jacket and trouser outfit.
McCartney’s perseverance in fabric development is impressive. If you didn’t know her stance, you would easily assume the leather and suede effects here were the real thing.
There was also a nod to our fair island’s more bawdy side – albeit with a higher level of chic than one might find in Blackpool – with knitted polo necks and plaid dresses featuring cone-shaped bra details. “The boobs!” exclaimed McCartney. “For me it’s an empowering statement, and about taking ownership of your sexuality. As a woman there are so many ways of looking at it. I think it’s about looking at the history of that conversation and placing it in today, in a way, where you should be allowed to do what you want and how you want.”
The show ended on a poignant yet celebratory note. After the models had snaked through the Paris Opéra Garnier for the finale, at the end they grouped together to dance and sing along to George Michael’s Faith.