Stella McCartney
Being the daughter of Sir Paul and wife Linda McCartney, Stella McCartney was forced to become comfortable with fame at an early age. As an English fashion designer working under Chloe and Gucci, Stella McCartney has made a name for herself in the fashion world, but not without working to become an independent identity separate from her famous last name.
Stella Nina McCartney was born September 13, 1971 in London England. She attended state school in East Sussex and became interested in fashion design at a young age. By the age of 16 she was interning for French fashion designer Christian Lacroix. Stella studied fashion design at St. Martin’s College of Art & Design and graduated in 1995. Her graduation line gained front-page attention and was modeled by her friends Yasmin Le Bon, Naomi Campbell, and Kate Moss to the song Stella May Day written by her father.
In 1997, Stella was appointed chief designer at Chloé and though predecessor Karl Lagerfeld lacked confidence in McCartney’s abilities, she achieved success with her designs there. In 2000, Stella was awarded the VH1/Vogue Designer of the Year Award, which was presented to her by her father. Stella left Chloé in 2001 to join the Gucci Group.
2004 proved to be a stellar year for McCartney, who designed the clothing for Madonna’s Re-Invention Tour, Annie Lennox’s summer tour and the costumes worn by Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law in the movie Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow. Stella also launched a line of sports performance apparel with Adidas.
In 2005, Stella McCartney, like Lagerfeld the previous year, launched a line with Hennes & Mauritz a Swedish clothing company operating as H&M. The H&M designs included a line of moderately priced clothing and accessories that was a near instant sell-out.
Stella McCartney is a strict vegetarian and never uses leather or fur in her designs. It was reported that her stepmother, Heather Mills-McCartney, showed Paris Hilton a video on animal cruelty that led to Hilton’s conversion to a vegetarian. Stella and her family support PETA.
In her personal life, Stella McCartney is married to her publisher, Alasdhair Willis. Their wedding was held at Mount Stuart House on August 30, 2003 and the guest list included Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Pierce Brosnan and Liv Tyler. McCartney and Willis have three children. Their first child, a son Miller Alasdhair James, was born on February 25th 2005 and their second child, a daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn, was born December 8th 2006. Stella having given birth to her third son named Beckett Robert Lee on January 8th 2008. This was Sir Paul McCartney’s fifth grandchild. |
