Amid the rash of brand acquisitions this year, Stella McCartney’s narrative is different. In late March, she bought back parent company Kering’s stake in her business, which means that, after 17 years, her label is freshly, fabulously independent. Tygapaw, the Brooklyn-based, Jamaica-born, queer-identifying DJ rapped, “I am what I am,” on the soundtrack at the show today. This was McCartney’s moment to lay out a road map for the future.
She took it in stride. There were no big fashion news flashes for next Spring; instead, McCartney took the opportunity to reassert her signature sense of unruffled cool. This goes for her newly hatched menswear, which exists at the intersection of utility and athleisure, and it naturally goes for her women’s as well.
Exit one set a playful, sportif tone with its SoulCycle neoprenes in granny’s wallpaper chintz. Ice-skater dresses in pale dip-dyed jersey were athletic and flirtatious in kind. McCartney’s appeal lies in her ability to infuse even her more formal pieces with that carefree spirit. Can a pantsuit be laid-back? In McCartney’s hands, yes it can. This season’s were cut in boxy “boyfriend” silhouettes in linen or sustainable viscose.
Her real emphasis here seemed to be on elevating what we think of as comfort clothes. Think: tie-dye tees, tie-dye jeans, denim boilersuits, and a recycled nylon shell suit with zips on the legs to adjust the volume (her silk slips had a similar functionality). The eveningwear with its trapeze shapes could’ve doubled as nighties. And a Lurex floral long dress read as likewise relaxed, thanks to its generous sleeves and the ballet slippers Rianne Van Rompaey padded out in. All of this was well-judged. Considering current events, there’s a collective feeling that we need all the comfort we can get. Clothes won’t solve our troubles, but McCartney’s could definitely make life more pleasurable.
