Stell McCartney shows off her spring collection
It was an art fair as a fashion show for Stella McCartney, who put on an art-infused spring collection at Paris Fashion Week on Monday October 3, vibrating with flashes of colour. Yoshitomo Nara collaborated on the designs displayed outside the Pompidou Center Modern Art Museum, while sculptor Jeff Koons casually popped in to say hello to McCartney post-show in an atelier of world-famous sculptures by Constantin Brancusi.
A yellow, red and blue carpeted runway dazzled VIP guests for the designer's fashion show in the outdoor courtyard of Paris' Pompidou Center, a set created in homage to the art museum's famed coloured, structuralist exterior in the background. This vibrancy continued in the spring fare that was typically fluid and sporty, with moments of bright colour.
This season, chic garments such as asymmetrical white mini-dresses cut on the bias, or tight pink scuba tops with a scooped side silhouette, were the canvas for Nara's vivid imagination. On the front of them was a Japanese artist who created striking images of big-eyed girls and children in animal costumes, which the house described as sinister. The most funniest looks were in all-out colour, such as a stiff chalky yellow scuba top and pant look accessorised with bouncy black flip-flops and a blown up handbag. That cut a fine look against the bright yellow catwalk and had fashion insiders reaching for their cameras.
The designer was chuffed after greeting her supportive Beatles father Paul McCartney backstage, after she said she was chuffed that this spring collection set a house record for being 87 per cent sustainable. She said nothing was sacrificed, and you shouldn't see any of the sustainability it should still look luxurious. Fashion is a wasteful industry. Since her house was acquired by luxury giant LVMH, McCartney has taken up a lobbying role inside the company to push it in a more ecological direction. One of the fruits of that role appeared on the runway this season. The designer said LVMH paid for a three-year pilot to make regenerative cotton grown in ways that maintain the health of the soil. She said that the process captures carbon in the soil and encourages nature, rather than destroying it with pesticides. McCartney described her advisory role as having a positive impact, particularly having CEO Bernard Arnault on the front row seeing the success of her eco-friendly ready-to- wear. She said he's not stupid that it filters in. He can look at all of those bags and all of those shoes and all of those non-leather jackets. He can compare and contrast his other houses and see that there is no sacrifice visually. McCartney's initiatives are seen as being influential and transformative for the fashion industry as a whole.