“I’ll do anything I can to get near a horse,” said Stella McCartney backstage, and she had more than enough reason to do so this afternoon. This show aligned with both the year of the horse and her brand’s 25th anniversary, so she invited horse whisperer Jean-François Pignon and his shiningly intelligent Camargue ponies to reprise their runway performance from fall 2023. Although they again stole the show, it was only one chapter in what was effectively a runway autobiography of McCartney’s 25 years in fashion.
“MY DAD IS A ROCKSTAR” read the 51st and final look, which was preceded by 50 wearable statements as to McCartney’s characteristics beyond that headline. The first detail to stress, because she always does herself, is that McCartney is luxury’s leading exponent of environmentally responsible, cruelty-free, vegan fashion. Some 93 per cent of the materials in the show were verifiably sustainable, and the season’s innovations included knitwear whose proteins were yeast rather than wool derived, recycled denim manufactured without water waste, and an eco-leather that stemmed again from fermentation rather than skin or oil.
The rustic, sometimes explosively fringed knitwear also included crochet scarves and sweaters that recalled the part of McCartney’s childhood spent in Scotland. The opulent fake furs, satin separates, and fur-peplumed tunic suits reflected the teenage internships at Christian Lacroix and Yves Saint Laurent that determined her desire to become a fashion designer herself. And the suiting, especially great in moiré, nodded to her tutelage under the late Savile Row maestro Edward Sexton.
Many other aspects including the lace inserted cruelty-free silk tops and dresses, the Golborne Road cool-girl denim, and the powerfully-silhouetted plastic-free paillette Starburst dress that referenced and refreshed McCartney’s back catalogue. Stirrup pants and a red handbag with a riotous mane of fringing reminded us of her prime passion, while Pignon’s co-performers cantered so closely that you could feel the breeze as they passed.
