Stella McCartney claims most environmental issues mentioned in fashion industry are 'based around marketing'

'I want to make it better'

Erik Madigan Heck (WIRED UK)

Stella McCartney has long-been an advocate for sustainable fashion, but despite recent efforts to shed light on the industry’s environmental impact, the British designer claims that the most pressing issues are being ignored.

“90 per cent of the environmental issues that are mentioned in the fashion industry are based around marketing,” she told WIRED UK, adding, “They’re not heartfelt. They’re not really genuine.”

The 47-year-old, who recently announced she’d be launching a UN charter on sustainable fashion, also revealed the lengths she’s gone to in order to make some of her most-loved products, such as her vegan Stan Smith trainers, eco-friendly.

“We pushed to get it vegan and they let me,” she told the magazine. “And we did it. I’m so proud. That is the future.”

She went on to highlight some of her most sustainable endeavours, such as the Loop sneaker, which can be recycled in its entirety.

“That took 18 months to develop,” she said, revealing that she paid for the process herself.

When it comes to coming up with new products and creating her ready-to-wear lines, which she presents bi-annually at Paris Fashion Week, McCartney explained that being kind to the environment is always her priority: “The starting point is not design, the starting point is sustainability.”

She continued by saying that despite having no primary incentive and receiving “zero encouragement”, it’s not that difficult to produce clothes that won’t harm the planet: “But I’m still doing it. So if I’m doing it, anyone can do it.”

The interview comes days after McCartney unveiled plans for a new philanthropic platform dedicated to sustainability, dubbed “Stella McCartney Cares Green”.

The newly launched non-profit will focus on bridging the gap between the fashion industry and the growing awareness for a need to combat some of the biggest environmental issues it’s causing through things like fast fashion, which is contributing to water pollution, toxic chemical use and excessive textile waste.

This will primarily be carried out through educating fashion students, funding environmental protection lawyers and offering grants to NGOs tackling climate change.

“I’m very excited for this next chapter in our commitment to sustainability,” McCartney commented in a statement on the launch.

“This new platform will enable me to realise a dream I have had for a long time of creating a true open source and empowering the next generation of designers to bring sustainability values in to their practice.”

See the full feature in the January/February 2019 issue of WIRED UK, available on newsstands and digital download on Thursday 6 December 2018