Stella McCartney turns fashion show into green tech marketplace

British designer Stella McCartney took over a Paris marketplace on Monday and turned it into a showcase for new greener textiles while honouring her rock star parents' time in 1970s band Wings.

Held in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, it was designed as a "market where fruits are worn instead of eaten", according to the show notes.

Some 20 stalls lined up alongside the runway showed off "cruelty-free and conscious material innovations", including several types of vegan leather, organic cotton and a seaweed-based yarn grown from regenerative kelp.

Getting these new technologies off the ground has proved difficult, however.

McCartney backed a US start-up, Bolt Threads, that was considered a leader in mushroom-based leather, but it announced in July that it was halting production after failing to gather enough investment.

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As for the clothes in her spring-summer 2024 collection, some were inspired by her parents -- Paul and Linda McCartney -- during their time on tour with Wings in the 1970s, including ruffled shirts and crystal-encrusted waistcoats.

It was a highly varied collection, with a relaxed but high-end take on jeans and croptops, a sumptuous cape over a casual white tank top, and a silk gown gathered in two billowing balloon shapes around the shoulders.

McCartney said 95 percent of the outfits were made from "responsible materials".

The A-list attendees included Hollywood stars Cate Blanchett, Robert Downey and Chris Rock.

"The eclectic, ageless collection blurs the lines between genders and generations -- reinterpreting pieces from Stella's archive as well as those she borrowed from her parents, and (that) her daughters now borrow from her," the press release said.

Source: AFP