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Stella McCartney

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Stella Nina McCartney Willis (born September 13, 1971) is an English fashion designer.

Biography

Stella Nina McCartney was born in London, England and is the daughter of former Beatle Sir 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, McCartney does not use fur or leather in her designs and supports PETA [1]. Her father and stepmother, Heather Mills McCartney, have also been known for supporting PETA through such actions as protesting against well-known fur wearers, like Jennifer Lopez [citation needed], and against designers who use it in their collections. In 2006, Mills McCartney showed socialite Paris Hilton a video of animal cruelty that caused her to vow to never wear fur again after being shocked and repulsed by it. Reports claim that Hilton is now a converted vegetarian as well.

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." [2] Wings toured from shortly after her birth in 1971 until 1980.

McCartney's high profiled parents wanted their children to lead as normal an existence as possible so Stella and her siblings attended local state school in East Sussex. McCartney said that while attending state school, she was a victim of bullying. [3] 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 studied Fashion design at St Martins College of Art & Design in the early 1990s. Her graduation collection in 1995 was modelled by friends and supermodels Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Kate Moss at the graduation runway show. The collection was shown to a song penned by her famous father, called "Stella May Day". [4] 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.

Chloé and Gucci Group

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 and critical success. She was accompanied to the design House by her assistant and friend Phoebe Philo, who later took over as design director after Stella McCartney left.

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 Re-Invention 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, establishing a long-term partnership with the corporation in September 2004. This line is a sports performance collection for women called "Adidas by Stella McCartney" [5], and it has been critically acclaimed. [6]

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. [7]

In 2005, she designed a range of clothing and accessories for H&M, in another career move previously taken by Karl Lagerfeld, to boost public awareness of her own brand and to create more affordable options for her fans. The line was released in November of that year and sold out almost immediately on launch day, due to the similarity (in many cases, almost direct copies) between her expensive main line and the H&M line.

Criticism

Some in the press have suggested that McCartney's meteoric rise through the fashion industry was partly due to nepotism. 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." [8]

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.[1]

Their first child, son Miller Alasdhair 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 [2]

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 2002). Both are the children of McCartney's older sister Mary McCartney Donald and her husband, television producer Alistair Donald.

Many British tabloids have alleged that there has been a bitter feud between McCartney and her stepmother, Heather Mills McCartney, that may or may not include the other McCartney siblings. In 2002, McCartney dismissed this as the tabloids "mak[ing] money writing crap." [9] Heather Mills McCartney and her other stepchildren have not bothered to comment.

In August 2006, Stella McCartney and Alasdhair Willis announced that they are expecting their second child, a fourth grandchild for Paul McCartney. [10]

Trivia

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."
  1. ^ http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/stellamccartney/
  2. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006230304,00.html
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