Stella McCartney became interested designing clothes at age 12, when she made her first jacket. Three years later, she interned for Christian Lacroix, working on his first fashion design collection, honing her skills on Savile Row for a number of years.
She studied 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.
As a strict vegetarian, McCartney does not use fur or leather in her designs and supports PETA. Some of McCartney's designs have text that elaborates on her "no animal" policy; for example, one of her jackets for Adidas says, "suitable for sporty vegetarians" on the sleeve. Her father is also known for supporting PETA by protesting against designers who use animal fur, and those who wear it. However, Stella will use wool, silk, and other animal-derived fabrics in her designs.
After two collections, in March 1997 McCartney was appointed chief designer of Paris fashion house Chloé, following in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld was less than impressed with the house's choice, famously stating: "Chloé should have taken a big name. They did, but in music, not fashion. Let's hope she's as gifted as her father." Despite that initial skepticism, McCartney's designs enjoyed considerable commercial and critical success. She was accompanied to the design House by her assistant and friend Phoebe Philo, who later replaced her as design director.
In 2001, McCartney resigned from Chloé in order to enter into an eponymous joint venture with Gucci. The line has three stores, one in New York City (September 2002), one in Mayfair (April 2004) and one in Los Angeles which she opened on her birthday in September 2005 and expanded her brand into perfume.
Stella McCartney received the VH1/Vogue Designer of the Year award in 2000. Paul McCartney presented the award to his daughter. She thanked him in her acceptance speech and dedicated the award to her late mother. Also in 2000, McCartney designed Madonna's wedding dress for her marriage to Guy Ritchie. Her older sister, Mary, served as the wedding photographer.
In January 2007, Stella McCartney launched a skincare line called CARE. The 100% organic line includes seven products, from a cleansing milk made with lemon balm and apricot, to green tea and linden blossom floral water. Dutch model Bette Franke stars in the line's advertisements.
- source wikipedia
Below is a list of the best Stella McCartney designed bags for purchase.