Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1546381
P H OTO BY M AT T EO P R A N D O N I , C O U R T E S Y O F S T E L L A M C C A R T N E Y in focus For more than 25 years, Stella McCartney has taken accountability for fashion's outsized impact on our planet. Her latest collection proves that fighting for the voiceless never goes out of style. BY KAT HERRIMAN beyond bit the efore sustainability was cool, or something you could earn social credit for, Stella McCartney argued that fashion should take responsibility for its impact on the planet. When it launched in 2001, her namesake label made a light-year leap for the industry, becoming the first luxury house to go fur-, feather-, and leather-free—which was unthinkable at the time. By standing up for animal rights early, McCartney paved the way for a new generation of material scientists to develop alternative fabrics, knowing a bona-fide designer would be waiting to turn them into sought-after garments. With her Fall/Winter 2026 collection, the creative director reflects on what a quarter century of leading by example looks like. "From day one, we refused leather, fur, feathers, and skins," McCartney says. "We've worked with spider silk spun in labs, grown handbags from mushrooms, and turned apple waste into shoes. We've saved hundreds of millions of animal lives, protected forests, and kept countless tons of waste out of landfills. And we've proved you don't have to sacrifice craft, fit, or style to do the right thing." The collection arrives brimming with the evidence. It is chockablock with signature moves that have become brand codes over time, whether lingerie worn as outerwear or the interplay between the designer's Savile Row polish and her nostalgia for the 1980s sportswear silhouettes of her youth. It feels fitting that, given this season of reflection and its alignment with the Chinese zodiac Year of the Horse, McCartney decided to tell the brand's story by returning to her own beginnings: a Scottish farm where riding shaped her lifelong love and respect for nature. The accompanying runway show, staged at a riding hall in Paris's arcadia-like Bois de Boulogne, re-created B McCartney credits riding with shaping her lifelong love—and respect—for nature. 92 92 BALHAR B O U RSH O P S .CO M