I never want to promote an ad that makes women feel bad about themselves, because when I was young, I never felt rich enough or fashionable enough or good enough. I felt talked down to by luxury fashion labels. There was a disconnect. They made me feel we weren't right for each other.
Interpretation
Promoting body positivity and self-acceptance in advertising.
Stella McCartney emphasizes the importance of creating advertising that uplifts and empowers women, contrasting her own experiences with luxury fashion labels that made her feel inadequate. She advocates for a more inclusive approach that connects with women, allowing them to feel valued and confident rather than diminished by the marketing messages they encounter.
In practice
Sharing this quote at a fashion conference to discuss ethical advertising.
I've had people say to me, 'You'll never sell handbags. You don't work with leather, and leather is luxury.' To me, it's the complete opposite: leather is everywhere - it's so cheap a material; it's so mass produced. Over 50 million animals a year are killed just for fashion. For me, it doesn't have a luxury element to it.
It's not about what it looks like in the studio or on the runway. It's what it looks like on a real person that matters.
I think the moment that I'm very proud of is building a business without using animals. And, hopefully, changing people's perception of how you can do luxury fashion.
Fashion should be about making clothes that make all women look beautiful, not making women starve so that they can fit in a size 8.
Fashion can be about escapism but I have always been interested in the aspirational side of it - wanting to present the self you hope eventually to become.
I always wear what I'm comfortable in. If one designer doesn't like what I'm wearing, the next one will.
On a hanger, no dress is sexy. It's just fabric on a hanger.
Fashion goes in only one direction -forward- and I am a firm believer in thinking that way too.
The great thing about American women is their energy and the way they love to dress. French women don't really dress; they are too conservative, as it's always a question of money. In America, women are powerful and strong, determined. If they want to be an object, they choose to be in control.
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