Stella McCartney

Stella Nina McCartney (born September 13, 1971) is a British fashion designer.

Biography

She was born in London, England and is the daughter of former Beatle Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, a Jewish American rock photographer famous for her support of vegetarianism and her range of vegetarian food. As a strict vegetarian herself, Stella does not use fur or leather in her designs and supports PETA ^* Her stepmother is Heather Mills McCartney.

As a little girl, McCartney travelled the globe with her famous parents and their rock group Wings, along with her siblings: older half-sister Heather (who was legally adopted by Paul McCartney and can therefore also be considered a full sister), older sister Mary, and younger brother James. According to Paul McCartney, the name of the rock group was inspired by Stella's birth, which was premature and traumatic; Stella and her mother both almost died. As his daughter was being born by emergency caesarean section, Paul sat outside the operating room and prayed that she be born "on the wings of an angel." ^* Wings toured from shortly after her birth in 1971 until 1980.

McCartney's famous parents wanted their children to lead as normal an existence as possible. McCartney attended a local state school in East Sussex, and when she wanted spending money, she had to clean dishes at a local restaurant. She became interested in designing clothes at age 12, when she made her first jacket. Three years later, she interned for Christian Lacroix, working on his first fashion design collection, honing her skills on Savile Row for a number of years.

McCartney learned her trade at St Martins College of Art & Design. She was almost instantly successful, with her graduation collection of 1995 being sported at the graduation show by friends and supermodels Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Kate Moss. The collection was shown to a song penned by her famous father, called "Stella May Day". The show made front-page news, and the entire collection was sold to Tokio, a London boutique. The designs were licensed to Browns, Joseph, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman-Marcus.

After two collections, in March 1997 McCartney was appointed chief designer at Paris fashion house Chloé, following in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld was less than impressed with the house's choice, famously stating: "Chloé should have taken a big name. They did, but in music, not fashion. Let's hope she's as gifted as her father." McCartney's designs enjoyed considerable commercial success. In 2001 she resigned from the house in order to enter into an eponymous joint venture with the Gucci Group. The line has three stores, one in New York City (September 2002), one in Mayfair (April 2004) and one in Los Angeles, which opened in September 2003, when she both opened the store and expanded her brand into perfume on her birthday. In 2004, she designed clothes for Madonna's Reinvention tour, Annie Lennox's summer tour, and Gwyneth Paltrow's and Jude Law's costumes for the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. She also launched a joint-venture line with Adidas.

Stella McCartney received the VH1/Vogue Designer of the Year award in 2000. Paul McCartney presented the award to his daughter. She thanked him in her acceptance speech and dedicated the award to her late mother. ^*

In 2005, she designed a range of clothing and acessories for H&M, in another career move inspired by Karl Lagerfeld. The line was released in November of that year and sales skyrocketed.

Criticism

Some in the press have suggested that McCartney's meteoric rise through the fashion industry was partly helped by her having famous parents. In particular, it has been suggested that Vendome, owners of the Chloé house, appointed her as much for the wave of publicity the appointment would generate as her talent. In recent times, however, most commentators have said that she is entirely capable. Indeed, Vogue magazine wrote that "her first collection for the house Chloé, shown in Paris in October 1997, quickly dispelled any doubts about her talent." ^*

Personal life

After being linked to singer Lenny Kravitz, she married publisher Alasdhair Willis on 30 August 2003, in a private Roman Catholic chapel at Mount Stuart House, the stately home of the Marquess of Bute. The service was attended by Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler, Pierce Brosnan and Madonna.http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/stellamccartney/

Their first child, son Miller Alisdhair James Willis, was born on 25 February 2005. The baby weighed 7lbs, 7 oz. The couple own a house in London, and a 250 acre farm in Pershore, Worcestershire http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006230304,00.html

In addition to her three aforementioned siblings, McCartney has a much younger half-sister, Beatrice Milly McCartney, born on 28 October 2003 to Paul McCartney and his second wife, McCartney's stepmother Heather Mills McCartney.

She has two nephews, Arthur Alistair Donald (born 3 April 1999) and Elliot Donald (born 1 August 2001). Both are the children of McCartney's older sister Mary McCartney Donald and her husband, television producer Alistair Donald.

Trivia

She is known in the fashion industry as "Stella Steel" or "Unstoppable Stella." ^*
In March 1999, McCartney showed her collection to the tune of Queen's song Killer Queen, unaware that hunt-fan Camilla Parker Bowles was on the front row.
McCartney's wedding dress in her August 2003 marriage ceremony to publisher Alasdhair Willis was an updated version of her mother, Linda McCartney's wedding dress at her March 1969 marriage ceremony to Stella's father, Paul McCartney. She designed the dress with Tom Ford, her boss at the Gucci fashion group. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/31/1062268474315.html
She designed Madonna's wedding dress for her 2000 marriage to Guy Ritchie. Her older sister, Mary McCartney Donald, served as the wedding photographer.
She is named for both of her maternal great-grandmothers: both of Linda McCartney's grandmothers were named Stella.
Among McCartney's close friends are many major stars, including Madonna, Liv Tyler, Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Quotations

"I have been struggling furiously all my life to be independent."
"I can honestly say this industry hasn't made me neurotic about my looks, except maybe my weight. I hope my clothes kind of reflect that. They're meant to make you feel good, not give you more hang-ups."

References

External links

Stella McCartney | Stella McCartney | Stella McCartney | Stella McCartney