British designer Stella McCartney will be recognized for championing sustainability and animal rights by the British Fashion Council.
The lifelong veggie and sometimes PETA spokesperson will be the first person to receive the new Special Recognition Award for Innovation at this year’s Fashion Awards.
McCartney is famous for making vegan-friendly fashion including non-leather bags and shoes.
Collaborations
The British designer has used a number of eco-friendly fabrics in her designs.
This year she teamed up Silicon Valley biotech company Bolt Threads to create yeast-based vegan silk. She also joined forces with Parley for the Oceans to use recycled ocean debris in her designs.
She also uses fabrics like vegetarian leather and organic cotton.
‘Pioneer’
British Fashion Council chair Natalie Massenet referred to McCartney as a ‘pioneer’, adding: “She has created a modern business that, in turn, has led her to be at the forefront of sustainable sourcing and material innovation.
“She is proof that high and ethical fashion combined can create astonishing results and her innovative approach to the industry is an inspiration to us all
McCartney added: “What I am most proud of is that it is a new award that is introduced into the Fashion Awards, a special recognition on innovation.
“I am hoping that as being the first recipient, I can inspire other design houses to follow suit and to make this the most prestigious award, not just a one-off.”
Sustainability
As part of her commitment to sustainability, the designer has teamed up with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which has just released a report claims half of High Street fashion is disposed of within a year.
Dame Ellen MacArthur, a round-the-world sailor and environmental campaigner, said: “Today’s textile industry is built on an outdated linear, take-make-dispose model and is hugely wasteful and polluting.”
Stella McCartney added: “What really excites me about [the report] is that it provides solutions to an industry that is incredibly wasteful and harmful to the environment. “
McCartney will be honored at The Fashion Awards on December 4 in London.
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