How Stella McCartney Designed Her Career

She’s risen to the top of one of the most competitive industries in the world. Now the fashion titan tells Glamour‘s Cindi Leive how she got there—and what to do when someone “slags you off.”

I first met Stella McCartney backstage at one of her ebullient shows, but I first fell in love with her at Glamour‘s Women of the Year Awards in 2009. The designer—the daughter of Beatle Paul McCartney and photographer Linda McCartney—took the stage in a killer mini (“Ladies, never wear a skirt this short if you get an award,” she joked). Surrounded by the wives of the other three Beatles—an extended family that helped raise her—she thanked the women in her life. That’s classic Stella: She’s fun and opinionated, and she’s got other women’s backs. Just don’t think her impressive career came easily. She had plenty of high-profile haters along the way—they dismissed her as a child of fame, scoffed at her commitment to designing without animal products, and sneered at her dream of having her own hugely successful line. She proved them all wrong, joining Chloé as creative director in 1997 and then launching her own line in 2001. Today the 43-year-old mother of four runs an empire of everything from lingerie and bags to expertly constructed red-carpet dresses; if you find yourself craving stirrup pants and rubber-soled oxfords this fall, it just might be her fault. I interviewed her at the Carlyle hotel in New York City on the day of the Met Ball—where, hours later, I would run into her dancing with Rihanna and Reese Witherspoon. Here’s what she said about her success so far.

CINDI LEIVE: Let’s start at the beginning. You wanted to be a designer from age 10?
STELLA MCCARTNEY: Yeah. From an early age, I was very interested in all things fashion…and the change from tomboy to ultrafeminine glamour in old films. There was a Doris Day film I loved, Calamity Jane. I was really drawn to my mum and dad’s wardrobe. I spent a lot of time sitting there—literally in the closet.

CL: You must have learned a certain work ethic from them too—they were both people who loved their work.

SM: It was just part of life in our family that our parents worked and also had a good home-work balance…. My mum and dad had creative jobs, but our family was a working family—so there wasn’t an option of “Oh, when you’re older, you’re not going to have to work.”

CL: So it was always fashion for you. Was there ever a plan B?

SM: Very early I thought I would go into music, but I was aware that it would bring a set of obstacles I didn’t find particularly attractive. Also, I’m not a great performer! For a while I thought I would do something in landscape gardening. But it was always fashion for me.

CL: I remember you saying that you didn’t feel you had “permission” to go into the fashion world.

SM: I have a lot of baggage from growing up. I was very aware of the perception that people have of someone in my position; it can have negatives as well as positives. [But] I’m a worker, and…at 15 I was working in Paris for designers, making cups of tea. I did [an internship] with a Savile Row tailor because I am obsessed with British bespoke tailoring. That’s what I wanted to learn. At the time, it was very unfashionable to do an internship in that world!

CL: Really?

SM: Most people want to do dresses…. Everyone was very much about high fashion, trying to be really cool.

CL: I wondered if not coming from within capital-F fashion put you in touch with women. You’re known for the fact that your collections are actually worn.

SM: When I first started, it was a dirty word to say you made clothes for people to wear…. I was a little ashamed of it. You didn’t always feel you were this amazing creative force.

CL: How backward is that!

SM: Yeah, but don’t you remember that? It was like, “Oh, she does ‘wearable clothes,’ ugh.” [As a female designer] it’s disheartening if you can’t wear the clothes! Also, I have a real admiration toward women. I want to make them feel better. And you do feel better by wearing the right things.

CL: How do you protect time for creative thinking? You’re running this multimillion-dollar business, but with every collection, you have to do something wildly, delightfully, inventively creative.
SM: I schedule it. And because I love what I do, I’m always doing it. I’ll be sitting here talking to you, and behind you I’ll see a lightning bolt and some fabric [gestures toward the wall], and I’ll go, OK, there’s something there. It never stops. I’m in the country at weekends [on her family's farm]; the change in seasons inspires me.

CL: One appealing thing about your brand is that it seems very authentic.

SM: We’re an honest brand. I’m not good at lying or going, “It’s all about this this season!” If I don’t believe it, I don’t expect anyone else to. Not working with leather or animal products, trying to have a more conscious business from day one, was the way it was going to be. If you stick to your guns…people accept it.

CL: The world has changed in that area. When you started, you must have felt as if you were swimming upstream.

SM: “Another freak show.” Yeah. I’ve done stuff differently, but the fashion industry is still pretty far behind.

CL: What’s the one vegan fabric you want to see developed? What do you just drool to get your hands on?

SM: Silk is hard. Wool, we have a nice sustainable program, but everything can always be better.

CL: Why do you think there is more fur on the runway now than five years ago?

SM: [Fur] is a big industry…. It’s heartbreaking that nearly every brand uses some type of fur, whether it be a trim on a shoe or a coat. People are afraid to say no to it. I work with photographers and models all the time who don’t want to wear or shoot fur, and they’re afraid. [It's] a tragedy that women are still told they should look a certain way and wear a certain thing, and they don’t even know they’re being told that. [Fur] is a disgusting industry. It’s not glamorous. But people need encouraging [to take a stand against it]. I was always told I couldn’t have an accessories business.

CL: Meaning without leather?

SM: Yeah. [Critics said,] “without leather, you’ll never have a shoe business.” I almost surrendered to it! Then I suddenly had this amazing hit, the Falabella bag [McCartney's signature tote with chain trim]. We have a really healthy accessories business, which is unheard-of without leather…. I can show competitors that we can be profitable and have a kick-ass company that’s not using leather or fur or PVC. We can rival your business plan even when you are using [them].

CL: It seems as if you’ve been very good about not hearing “no” throughout your career.

SM: I’m not good with “no”!

CL: I loved the speech you gave accepting your company’s win for Designer Brand at the British Fashion Awards in 2012. You said that when you were going to start your own line, an unnamed top French executive said something like, “It’s going to fail. Don’t go back to England. There is no British female designer who has had a global brand.”
SM: I know—it’s so nice to have proved him wrong.

CL: How did you not hear that?

SM: It’s not my character. I’m a redhead. That’s the little bit of me that’s just like, No, I’m not taking that!

CL: Like back when you went to Chloé and [your predecessor] Karl Lagerfeld sniffed that the company had chosen a famous name—”but in music, not fashion.”

SM: Such a good line, you’ve got to hand it to him! [But] I’m glad that wasn’t the end of me. That would have been tragic: “Oh, just some chick who was the daughter of someone, and Karl said this, and that was the end of her.” Anyone that slags you off in life, it doesn’t feel great, but…. It was like, Karl Lagerfeld is slagging me off? This is the best thing ever! I just thought it was hilarious.

CL: You have so many female friends. You stood up on stage at our Women of the Year event and said that behind every great woman is another great woman. I loved that! Am I right in thinking that that’s a big part of who you are?
SM: I wouldn’t remember [that] because I was petrified! But we’ve created a family environment [at work]. I have a great connection with the women I work with, and the men too. We’re not that distant from each other in the waters of life!

CL: What’s ahead for you? You do women’s, shoes, bags, beauty, fragrance, children’s, [a partnership with] Adidas. I’m sure I’m leaving something out….
SM: Sunglasses. Lingerie!

CL: So what’s next on your wish list?

SM: For spring we want to approach shoes as if we’re just a shoe brand…. Doing nonleather shoes presents a set of issues. We’re concentrating on making that an exciting part of the brand.

CL: Thinking further ahead, one of the things about fashion is that even though it’s a youth culture, it’s—

SM: It’s the most old-fashioned industry in the world.

CL: But you can have a long career.

SM: I know…. I come from a rock ‘n’ roll background; you’re done normally [at a young age].

CL: Not in your family.

SM: If you’re an icon, you’re allowed to grow old gracefully! But yes, I always say fashion is a great industry if you want to get better with age.

CL: A lot of top designers are over 60, even 80. Do you see yourself doing this at 80? Or are you on the farm?

SM: I think I’m on the farm…. I don’t think I’ll be rocking down the runway with a Zimmer [walker].

CL: One more thing. I hate the phrase “having it all.” Nobody really does it all. What are you not doing right now?

SM: Meditating. [Laughs.] I’m probably not doing enough “me” stuff, which is fine. I’m working on that. But I’m happy. I feel very lucky. Even when I’m wound up and angry, I’m learning that that’s OK too. Like my mum always used to say, it’s allowed.

SECRETS OF THE OFFICE MASTER
How this fashion star manages her empire—and keeps her cool

Q: DO YOUR FEMALE EMPLOYEES ASK FOR HELP WITH WORK-LIFE ISSUES?
A: Some. But you just get on with being a mum, don’t you? There should be more information [for working parents].

Q: HOW HAVE YOU NAVIGATED BEING A BOSS VERSUS BEING A COLLEAGUE?
A: I’ve struggled. But I try to avoid being too firm or not friendly. That’s a short-term way to work with people.

Q: WHAT’S YOUR BEST CAREER ADVICE?
A: Just be yourself. Be responsible for bringing that into your life. I think anyone can have that kind of confidence—I encourage that!

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