Stella McCartney is pushing for more regulation in the fashion industry
It is rare for a business owner to ask for more regulation within their own industry, but this is exactly what Stella McCartney is doing. The designer is, in her own words, "begging" governments around the world to do more to regulate how fashion companies are run in order to try to reduce the industry's dramatic impact on the planet.
At the moment, the fashion industry accounts for roughly 10 per cent of the annual global greenhouse gas emissions. In order to change this, McCartney wants the fast-fashion and the luxury-fashion markets to completely change the way they function, and for new, more sustainable materials to be embraced on a much bigger scale.
"I’m here today because I'm begging for policy to be put in place for the fashion industry," McCartney said in an interview with Forbes magazine, where she was presenting the exhibition, 'The Future of Fashion: An innovation conversation with Stella McCartney' in Glasgow as part of the COP26 UN climate conference.
Part of the exhibition was a showcase of new, sustainable materials that have recently been developed, including a leather made from mushrooms and a regenerated nylon made from ocean plastics.
The designer also spoke out about how she hopes to be an example to other fashion businesses in reducing their output and creating products in a more sustainable way, which will still make them profit.
"Fast-fashion [brands] obviously need to reduce what they produce," she said. "I want to show my industry that you can have a business model in working in a cleaner, more sustainable way. You don't have to kill and don't have to cut down rainforests, and you can have a sexy, well-designed, lasting, beautiful bag. I'm here to show that you can still make money."
McCartney presented her vision of the future of fashion to a number of big names, including Prince Charles and Leonardo DiCaprio, and will continue to spread the word as the exhibition travels around. She has also launched a petition to ban the use of animal leather and fur, which you can find out more about right here.
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