Inside the Centre Pompidou, actress Helen Mirren opened Stella McCartney’s Paris Fashion Week show with a spoken rendition of The Beatles’ “Come Together.” It set the tone for a Tuesday night collection framed around humanity, animals, and Mother Earth.
British designer McCartney has long been ahead of the curve in fashion’s sustainability push. This season, she presented her most conscious offering yet: 98% sustainable and 100% cruelty-free. There was no leather, no fur, no feathers, and no exotic skins. Instead, the collection introduced world-first innovations: FEVVERS, a plant-based alternative to feathers, and PURE.TECH, a programmable fabric that absorbs pollutants from the air.
While the message was serious, the mood was not. A pounding bass line and rave-like lights kept energy high as Robin Wright, Dylan Penn, and Johnny Depp watched from the front row.
McCartney’s silhouettes explored opposites — masculine and feminine, grounded and ethereal. Savile Row tailoring was deconstructed with double-breasted jackets sliced open at the sides, draped with dropped lapels, and worn over pleated wide trousers and 1980s Italian-inspired shirting. The colour palette shifted from candy pinks, lavenders, and blues into khaki, corporate grey, and pecan.
Upcycling was highly visible throughout the collection. Denim waistbands were collaged into dresses, bags, and even platform shoes. Sequins glimmered across Falabella clutches and hand-embroidered denim pieces. There were sculptural satin evening gowns and corseted draping, animated by the new feather substitute.
This collection captured McCartney’s recurring aesthetic: eco-luxury innovation, 1980s-inflected power dressing, and activist theatre softened by British wit. McCartney appeared to dare her audience to imagine fashion that does not just dress the body, but tries to heal the planet.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/helen-mirren-opens-stella-mccartneys-activist-cruelty-free-paris-fashion-show-1813221.html