Stella McCartney Presents Her Most Sustainable Collection Yet for Spring 2020

It was still a fashion show, though.

Looks from the Stella McCartney Spring 2020 collection. Photo: Imaxtree
Looks from the Stella McCartney Spring 2020 collection. Photo: Imaxtree

Stella McCartney really, really loves the planet. Sustainability has long been baked into the DNA of her brand, and she hosted a round-table chat with activists on the steps of the Opera Garnier on Sunday evening before her fashion show on Monday morning. But to be sure that she could drive the point home, the backdrop for her Spring 2020 fashion show featured videos on a loop of, well, humping animals across species, all while "Love to Love You Baby" bumped along (sorry) in the background. Love to love you, indeed.

As for the collection, McCartney claims it is her most sustainable yet, with 75% of the materials used coming from one of her many eco-friendly sources, like organic cotton, recycled polyester, Econyl and hemp. There was a lovely message about the circle of life which figured rather literally into circle-shaped skirts and tops with circular cutouts around the abdomen.

And that's all lovely, but it was still, you know, a fashion show, an extravaganza which is rarely eco-friendly and which exists almost solely to sell things. It's easier to defend the process when the product in question is sustainable and chic workwear for women, including slit skirts with scalloped blouses and sharply-tailored blazers, or safari-inspired vests or jumpsuits belted with rope. It gets a bit trickier for the end to justify the means when it comes to putting men in a plain white sneaker — do men really need another option in that department?

Of course, thanks to said video projections, there was a lot less waste in the paper and set department, which puts McCartney ahead of her compatriots once again when it comes to thinking sustainably. Still, it would be lovely to see McCartney push her messaging even further next season.

See every look from the collection in the gallery below.

<p>A look from the Stella McCartney Spring 2020 collection. Photo: Imaxtree</p>

A look from the Stella McCartney Spring 2020 collection. Photo: Imaxtree

View the 52 images of this gallery on the original article

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