Kind Label of the Week: Stella McCartney

Every week we share one of our favourite labels working to make the world more beautiful, and more importantly, more kind.

﻿This week, we're featuring Stella McCartney. The ethical luxury fashion brand was one of the first to offer animal friendly, vegan fashion, such as vegan ‘fur’, vegan designer bags, vegan wallets and shoes.


Stella McCartney luxury vegan leather handbag in grey and purse in black

Stella McCartney's vegan designer handbags made from more sustainable, kind materials than animal skins.


Animal friendly vegan fashion

Stella McCartney was the first luxury fashion designer to launch without ever using animal furs or skins. In fact, Stella McCartney is still the only truly world renowned luxury designer not to use any leather, instead creating vegan designer bags, vegan wallets and other vegan leather products.

In the years since the brand's launch in 2001, many other brands have begun to slowly follow suit and become kinder to animals, too. Vivienne Westwood, Chanel, and other brands no longer uses exotic skins or fur. Many brands have banned fur alone, including Gucci, and Giorgio Amarni. 

As Stella McCartney is not a 100% vegan, but vegetarian brand, unfortunately the brand is still using some animal fibres like wool. However, her work for animals has made waves in the fashion industry. Fortunately, there are also lesser known luxury labels that are entirely vegan, like Kinds of Grace, Angela Roi and Sans Beast.


extinction rebellion activists modelling for stella mccartneyThe Stella McCartney Winter '19 campaign, featuring Extinction Rebellion activists wearing among other garments, animal friendly, vegan handbags.


Sustainable fashion

By using vegetarian and predominately vegan, rather than animal-based materials, Stella McCartney is an inherently more sustainable fashion brand. Some of the most environmentally impactful materials to produce come from cruelly slaughtered animals. Cow skin and fur both having serious environmental damage behind them, according to the Global Fashion Agenda and independent research shared by the Fur Free Alliance.

Further, in her vegan handbags, vegan wallets, shoes, other accessories and garments, Stella McCartney works to use eco-friendly materials, for a sustainable fashion world. These include organic and natural fibres, as well as recycled materials, and other innovative materials.

A great example of innovation for the sake of sustainability is Stella McCartney's pioneering use of biodegradable, vegan materials made from renewable sources. For example mushroom leather, and a vegan silk made in a laboratory, created to mimic the DNA of spider webbing. 


stella mccartney coat model

A coat by Stella McCartney featuring their iconic branding design, and white vegan leather shoes.


Ethical fashion 

While sadly, so many luxury fashion labels do not consider the wellbeing of the people creating all of their garments and accessories, Stella McCartney is a more ethical fashion label. This means that not only does the brand consider their materials and refrain from using any animal skins, but their garments are made in a more fair supply chain.

While there are still aspects of the Stella supply chain that could be more transparent and fair, according to Good On You, the brand is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative and have adopted their Code of Conduct that includes a living wage definition. 


You can find Stella McCartney online, on Facebook and Instagram.