Stella McCartney wants to show other fashion houses how to be "respectful" when manufacturing garments.
Stella McCartney
The 47-year-old fashion designer - who is known for being sustainable and using alternatives to leather, fur and PVC when it comes to producing her clothes - wants to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with other fashion houses even though she admitted her way of working can be challenging.
She said: "It's my intention to stand shoulder to shoulder with the conventional houses and show that you can actually be respectful in your supply chain and manufacture.
"No. It's not like I go, 'Oh, I'm not going to use PVC because the challenge will make me more creative.' It's like, 'Well, that f**king sucks, and I've also only got three sequins that I can use in two colourways as opposed to 5,000 that everyone else will use.'
"If everyone else was sustainable, we could have a level playing field, so it does feel unfair - but it's my choice and I believe very much in my reasons for working in that way. You know what? It's not like I'm here for an easy life."
Stella took 10 years to find a clear alternative to PVC for footwear, and the star insisted that the innovations are purely "consumer-driven".
She told The Observer magazine: "They say [PVC] it's cancerous to the people who work with it, and then the residue runs into the rivers because the factories are built on rivers."
"These recent changes are consumer-driven. I don't think our industry would be doing that if the customers weren't demanding it."
The fashion guru also admitted she doesn't like "dry cleaning or any cleaning" of her clothes and is careful about what she washes.
Speaking about her three years on Saville Row studying tailoring, she added: "I was the only girl who had ever been in the room. I was there for three years and I barely learned how to set a sleeve head in a sleeve. It's like architecture. It's amazing.
"And the rule on a bespoke suit is you do not clean it. You do not touch it. You let the dirt dry and you brush it off. Basically, in life, rule of thumb: if you don't absolutely have to clean anything, don't clean it. I wouldn't change my bra every day and I don't just chuck stuff into a washing machine because it's been worn. I am incredibly hygienic myself, but I'm not a fan of dry cleaning or any cleaning, really."
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