British designer Stella McCartney pleaded for
fashion to “wake up” and help save the planet Monday after her first Paris
show as part of the industry’s biggest luxury conglomerate.
“The world is crying out for change and it is our responsibility to act
now,” said the creator, whose label is a pioneer of ethical fashion.
“We aren’t perfect… and like all businesses, we are part of the
problem,”
McCartney admitted.
“But we are pushing the boundaries every day to find solutions that do
exist in an industry desperately in need of change.”
Her comments come days after LVHM’s billionaire owner, Bernard Arnault
—
the second richest man in the world — attacked Greta Thunberg at the
launch
of his group’s environmental drive.
He accused the Swedish teenager of “surrendering to total catastrophism”
over climate change and depressing young people.
Arnault not as charmed with Greta Thunberg as the rest of the world
“She doesn’t offer anything other than criticism,” he told reporters
in
Paris after the event, where McCartney also spoke.
The designer has become Arnault’s personal advisor on sustainability
since
he bought into her brand in July, although she remains the majority
shareholder.
Arnault’s LVMH group, whose huge stable of luxury brands includes Dior,
Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, is seen as lagging behind its French rival
Kering.
Last week Kering — which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander
McQueen — said it had gone carbon neutral and would half the greenhouse
gas
emissions in its supply chain within five years.
LVMH refusing to join the “Fashion Pact”
LVMH refused to join with Kering in signing “The Fashion Pact” on the
fighting climate change at the G7 summit last month.
Kering owned half of McCartney’s label until she bought them out last
year.
McCartney said it was time brands got serious about the climate
emergency,
saying, “It’s time to wake up.”
Sustainability of the planet is a crisis not to be taken lightly
Sustainability “is the future of fashion, not just a trend”, she said.
“The younger generation are standing up and telling us that our house is
on
fire and that we need to respond like we are in a crisis, because in fact
it
is a crisis,” she said.
The vegetarian said that she had never used fur, leather, skins,
feathers
or animal glues since she founded her label in 2001,
to the sound of Donna’s Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby”, McCartney
projected images of coupling pangolins, Artic foxes and other endangered
species onto the Belle Epoque ceilings of the Opera Garnier in Paris.
Clips of zebras, ostriches and elephants also getting up to some monkey
business helped get fashionistas in the mood.
–
Is sustainable fashion enough to save the planet?
McCartney said her classy spring summer collection was “the most
sustainable ever” and included raffia bags made by female artisans in
Madagascar, with the material coming from communities fighting
deforestation.
It also included a luxurious-feeling new fake fur called Koba, made from
plant-based plastics and recycled polyester, and shoes with sustainable
wooden
heels and sneakers made from “second life plastic”.
McCartney’s impressive eco-friendly record
The designer — daughter of Beatle Paul McCartney and animal rights
activist Linda McCartney — listed her long record of finding
environmentally
friendly alternative materials in a lengthy press release to go with the
show.
With Kaia Gerber — the daughter of 1990s supermodel Cindy Crawford —
wearing one of a series of ingenious flower print dresses, the catwalk was
dominated by elegant lace and Mughal crenellation fringed creations.
Critics also lapped up her mix of chill English formal wear and sexy
streetness, with transparent lace blouses under business jackets and a run
of
stripey, chevron looks.(AFP)
Photos: Stella McCartney, catwalkpictures
