‘I CAN GET A BIT EMOTIONAL–I HAVE TO KEEP UP THE FIGHT'

STELLA MCCARTNEY ON HER VEGAN CLOTHING RANGE, HER PASSION FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND TAKING INSPIRATION FROM HER PARENTS

- LUCY ALLEN/HOT

When Stella McCartney launched her eponymous fashion house 20 years ago, she changed the game as the first luxury fashion brand to never use leather, feathers, fur or skins.

That vision and those values are perfectly embodied in Stella’s latest launch – the world’s first-ever garments made from vegan, lab-grown Mylo mushroom leather.

Here, Stella, 49, talks about being a glass-half-full kind of girl and her passion for revolutionising the fashion industry. She also discusses how her parents – Beatles legend Paul and her late mum, animal rights activist and musician Linda – inspired her career choice while raising their family on an organic farm...

Stella, you made your first jacket at the age of 12! Did you know back then that you wanted a career in fashion?

I just always knew, from a very early age. My earliest memories were of sitting in my mum and dad’s wardrobe and looking at all their clothes. I would watch films too, and I just knew that I wanted to do something that was creative. And, you know, I had parents that were in entertainment, so I would go on the road and I’d watch them work with costumes. But then we grew up on a farm, so it would be very contrasting worlds. One minute it was bareback on a horse and the next minute it was thigh-high boots and rock ’n’ roll! So I got this incredible insight into costumes and wardrobes.

Something not many kids would have…