It goes without saying that Stella McCartney is a passionate nature lover, so what better way to have a conversation with her than in a lush, quiet garden in Milan’s city center, surrounded by magnolias, wisterias climbing around trees, and chirping birds? “Let’s just forget fashion for a moment and savor all the natural beauty around us and talk about flowers!” she said. Flowers were actually very much part of her Resort collection, which she named Forces For Nature. Hand-drawn bouquets were printed on light cloqué summer dresses in delicate tones of peony, wisteria, and primrose, as if they had just been picked up in a field or in a bluebell wood in spring, during one of the weekends she loves to spend in the countryside with her family. “It’s always the best time,” she said.
It also goes without saying that McCartney isn’t afraid of challenges: “I’m a big believer in change,” she said. “When something is getting too comfortable, I tend to feel uncomfortable.” Her company is undergoing a sort of mutation, becoming independent after having being part of the Kering Group for so many years. It’s an energizing time for the designer—her pioneering work on sustainable fashion has set the bar high for the industry, not only helping to raise awareness but also showing that sustainability and a healthy business can go together. For Resort, her approach has become more overt: “Normally you don’t see what we do in terms of manufacturing conscientiousness,” she explained. “All the efforts we make in doing what we do are in the product, not on the product. This season I wanted to make it more visible.”
Enter Everything Is Illuminated’s best-selling author Jonathan Safran Foer, who, feeling a kindred spirit in McCartney, sent her his book Eating Animals a few years ago. “I was blown away,” she said. A friendship ensued and now a collaboration, which has been years in the making. Safran Foer has a new book called We Are The Weather which will be out in September: “So I said to Jonathan, ‘Why don’t I put into fashion what it is you’re putting into words?” Together they came up with the round pattern of a sun, which became Resort’s distinctive print: “It’s the circular weather, it’s the clouds, it’s the rain; the sun is breathing, blowing wind,” said McCartney. “But it’s also a little bit trippy, a little bit ’90s, a sort of dance-trance vibe.”
The “We Are The Weather” motif, together with Franzen’s handwritten statements, like “We Are Entirely Free To Live Differently” or “Be Leaving, Believing, Be Living,” were printed, knitted, or embroidered throughout the collection, which is 60 percent made of sustainable fabrics like organic cotton, sustainable viscose, regenerated nylon, recycled polyester, Alter-nappa, and the newly introduced traceable alpaca.
What’s great about McCartney’s clothes is that they are as much fashion-forward in concept as they’re covetable and cool in style. Resort offered plenty of smart options for our everyday busy lives, great utilitarian pieces cut with clarity and minimalism: roomy jumpsuits; imaginative textural knitwear; upcycled denim jackets and pants. Day dresses had effortless ease and inventive cuts, as did a circular cloqué number in a spectacular shade of red. As always chez Stella, Savile Row-style tailoring was a strong proposition, a standout being a sharp-tailored black tuxedo, with a touch of whimsy in the loose flowing ribbons subtly embroidered with the “We Are The Weather” beaded handwriting.
Menswear complemented the women’s line both in concept and design, with an emphasis on modern sporty flair and a casual, playful take on tailoring. “I always try to keep it light and have an element of humor,” said McCartney. In addition to the “We Are The Weather” motifs, hand-painted horses (“nothing is digitalized, all drawings are made by hand”) were printed on a matching silk shirt, tie and shorts; a leopard pattern created by scaled-up photocopies of Fur-Free-Fur was printed on generously-cut lightweight dusters. On a roomy jumpsuit, an all-over Earth satellite print looked like an abstract camo motif; an Eco-Weirdo graphic patched on a T-shirt felt like an irreverent take on logomania. “It’s this idea that we are a bit of Eco-Weirdos and we’re kind of proud about it,” said the designer.
In keeping with the festive, uplifting mood embedded in the house of McCartney, both collections were presented tonight during Milan Men’s opening day with a party in the enchanting garden of an old Milanese palazzo. But the event had a provocative edge: Models mingled with a collective of young activists performing a peaceful protest and chanting slogans on climate change awareness. Ribbons made of upcycled archival materials were flowing in the wind and could be personalized with messages for loved ones; they’ll be donated to a local design school to make sure that there’ll be zero waste.
McCartney was radiant: “If you want to buy something these days, buy something that isn’t killing your planet!” she said. “If you have a fashion platform, if you have a voice, take responsibility and do something more than just a pretty color or a pretty hemline right now. It’s time to do something.” It’s simply not possible to disagree with her call to action.
