Stella McCartney is one of those (rare) designers that explicitly telegraphs her values, season after season. She's championed animal cruelty-free design (see: "skin-free skin") and also criticized designers still using fur, and she's called out fashion industry's sustainability shortcomings. When some labels get vocal about environmental concerns related to fashion manufacturing practices just once a year, when, say, Earth Day rolls around, it comes off as sort of disingenuous. Not so with McCartney's line, though, since she's addressing these matters on a regular basis.
Today, the designer is rolling out a series of videos that cheekily address sustainability, in honor of Earth Day on April 22th as well as Fashion Revolution Week, which kicks off on April 24th. The six shorts were created with Clevercare, an offshoot of Ginetex (the international association for textile care labelling) which suggests the most climate-friendly, clothing-preserving ways to follow fabric care labels.
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“In everything we do at Stella McCartney, the first question we ask ourselves is 'how can we do this in a more sustainable and responsible and more environmental way?'" McCartney told Refinery29 of the video series.. "So this Clever Care initiative is a no brainer and [it's] easy. Every time you look on your care label in your clothes and see the Clever Care symbol, it will remind you of a more efficient way to clean your clothes that is less harmful to the environment.”
The first video, entitled "How To Care For Your Tailoring," features two chicly-styled models in killer suiting by McCartney, discussing the woes of global warming and suggesting that fixing beloved-but-worn-out pieces is more eco-friendly than just tossing them when a button goes missing or a zipper breaks. To wit: if you wear your clothes an additional three months, that results in a 5% to 10% reduction in your closet's carbon, water, as well as waste footprints. The clip looks like an awesomely retro public-access show, complete with adorably awkward (intentional!) camera cue blunders by the models and a faux news network-esque logo on the screen ('S' for Stella, obviously).
Throughout the month, the brand will be posting a number of additional videos made in tandem with Clevercare, and they'll all be released here. The next installment, out on April 13th, will be about all things denim. Check out the first video, below, and stay tuned for the next five delightfully quirky shorts in the series.