Stella McCartney has made a name for herself with her fashion house by removing fur, leather, feathers, and animal hide from her sustainable collections. However, in a recent interview with TIME she talked about being a ‘nepo baby’ and her father Paul McCartney’s one condition when she was just coming up in the fashion industry. She expressed:
“As one of the first nepo babies, I had the privilege of choice. I’m very aware of how lucky I’ve been to be accepted to work in this way since day one.”
In her early days, Stella attended Central St. Martins, an art and design college in London. Paul had told the outlet his only condition for his daughter. He said:
“She had to prove herself. I said if she doesn’t do well at the end of that year, then the name is not something to help; it’s a cudgel to beat her with. But she did well.”
Even though Stella eventually succeeded in her line of work by becoming the creative director of Chloé at 26 years old and named the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards Designer of the Year in 2000, she explained on Good Morning America that she had to fight to make her name stand alone. She expressed:
“I was very aware of the kind of eye on us as a family unit. Just being pre-judged and [finding] my own sense of self within all that, yeah, it was really important.”
However, after her experiences with different fashion houses cut to founding her own brand, the designer recalled the challenges she had to face regarding the use of animal products. She recalled to TIME everyone around her pushing her to use leather by sharing:
“I’ve had moments where I’ve been challenged very heavily to change my morals for the success of the company.”
You can read Stella McCartney’s interview with TIME here.