Stella McCartney

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Stella McCartney : biography

1971-9-13 –

Stella Nina McCartney, (born 13 September 1971) is an English fashion designer. She is the daughter of former Beatles member Sir Paul McCartney and American photographer and animal rights activist Linda McCartney.

Early life

McCartney was born in Lambeth, London, England, the second child of Beatles bassist Paul McCartney and American photographer Linda McCartney. She is named after her maternal great-grandmothers (both of Linda McCartney’s grandmothers were named Stella). As a young girl, McCartney travelled the globe with her parents and their pop music group Wings, along with her siblings: older half-sister Heather (who was legally adopted by Paul McCartney), older sister Mary, and younger brother James. According to her father, the name of Wings was inspired by Stella’s difficult birth. As his daughter was being born by emergency caesarean section, Paul sat outside the operating room and prayed that she be born "on the wings of an angel." Wings toured from shortly after her birth in 1971 until 1980.

Despite their fame, the McCartneys wanted their children to lead as normal a life as possible, so Stella and her siblings attended local state schools in East Sussex, one of them being Bexhill College. McCartney has said that while attending state school, she was a victim of bullying, as well as being a bully herself.

Awards

The following awards have recognised Stella McCartney’s achievement in fashion and social awareness: Stella McCartney received the VH1/Vogue Designer of the Year award in 2000, New York. Paul McCartney presented the award to his daughter. She thanked him in her acceptance speech and dedicated the award to her late mother. In 2000, McCartney designed Madonna’s wedding dress for her marriage to Guy Ritchie as well as the Woman of Courage Award for work against cancer at the prestigious Unforgettable Evening event (2003, Los Angeles), the Glamour Award for Best Designer of the Year (2004, London), the Star Honoree at the Fashion Group International Night of the Stars (2004, New York), the Organic Style Woman of the Year Award (2005, New York), the Elle Style Award for Best Designer of the Year Award (2007, London), Best Designer of The Year at the British Style Awards (2007, London), Best Designer of The Year at the Spanish Elle Awards (2008, Barcelona), the Green Designer of the Year at the ACE Awards (2008, New York) and in 2009 she was honoured by the NRDC, featured in the Time 100 and recognised as a Glamour magazine Woman of the Year. In November 2011 she was presented with the Red Carpet Award by the British Fashion Council. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to fashion.

In February 2013 she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4.

Career

Beginning

Born and raised in London and the English countryside, Stella McCartney graduated from Central St Martins in 1995. A signature style of sharp tailoring, natural confidence and sexy femininity was apparent in her first collection. In 1997, she was appointed the Creative Director of Chloe in Paris.

Stella McCartney became interested in designing clothes as a youth. At age thirteen, she made her first jacket. Three years later, she interned for Christian Lacroix, working on his first fashion design collection, honing her skills working for Edward Sexton, her father’s Savile Row tailor for a number of years.

She studied her foundation at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in the early 1990s. Her graduation collection in 1995 was modelled by friends and supermodels Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Kate Moss – for free – at the graduation runway show. The collection was shown to a song penned by her famous father, called "Stella May Day." The show made front-page news, and the entire collection was sold to Tokio, a London boutique. The designs were licensed to Browns, Joseph, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. In 1998, she designed her sister Mary’s wedding dress for her wedding to television producer Alistair Donald.