The National Times - Stella McCartney turns fashion show into green tech marketplace

Stella McCartney turns fashion show into green tech marketplace


Stella McCartney turns fashion show into green tech marketplace
Stella McCartney turns fashion show into green tech marketplace / Photo: © AFP

British designer Stella McCartney took over a Paris marketplace on Monday and turned it into a showcase for new greener textiles while honouring her rock star parents' time in 1970s band Wings.

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Held in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, it was designed as a "market where fruits are worn instead of eaten", according to the show notes.

Some 20 stalls lined up alongside the runway showed off "cruelty-free and conscious material innovations", including several types of vegan leather, organic cotton and a seaweed-based yarn grown from regenerative kelp.

Getting these new technologies off the ground has proved difficult, however.

McCartney backed a US start-up, Bolt Threads, that was considered a leader in mushroom-based leather, but it announced in July that it was halting production after failing to gather enough investment.

As for the clothes in her spring-summer 2024 collection, some were inspired by her parents -- Paul and Linda McCartney -- during their time on tour with Wings in the 1970s, including ruffled shirts and crystal-encrusted waistcoats.

It was a highly varied collection, with a relaxed but high-end take on jeans and croptops, a sumptuous cape over a casual white tank top, and a silk gown gathered in two billowing balloon shapes around the shoulders.

McCartney said 95 percent of the outfits were made from "responsible materials".

The A-list attendees included Hollywood stars Cate Blanchett, Robert Downey and Chris Rock.

"The eclectic, ageless collection blurs the lines between genders and generations -- reinterpreting pieces from Stella's archive as well as those she borrowed from her parents, and (that) her daughters now borrow from her," the press release said.

G.Morris--TNT