The collection prepared by British fashion designer Stella McCartney for a fashion retail company, set to launch in May, has drawn significant attention even before hitting the shelves, while also becoming the target of criticism. At a recent press conference, McCartney explained the importance of this project both for herself and for the concept of sustainability.

Let’s admit it, the fashion world is full of surprises. A few weeks ago, I attended a press conference organized to launch a collaboration that truly surprised me. On one side of this partnership is the Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M and on the other is British designer Stella McCartney, one of the first names that comes to mind when "sustainability” is mentioned in fashion. This capsule collection, which will go on sale on May 7, has been widely discussed and debated since its announcement. The designer had also created a capsule collection for the same brand 20 years ago. However, back then, we were perhaps not as aware of sustainability issues and the environmental impact of fast-fashion brands as we are today. Now, two decades later, the reunion of these two names is even more striking for that reason. The collection consists of clothing, bags, shoes and jewelry. McCartney’s designs for H&M focus on essential office wear pieces and versatile items that can be easily combined. H&M states: "We are a large company, which means we can create significant change. We want to be part of the solution. By coming together with Stella again, we can truly demonstrate both the progress we’ve made and what still needs to be done. It’s also very important to talk about these things openly and transparently.” With this collaboration, the company aims to contribute to sustainable and environmentally conscious fashion and emphasizes how much they have learned from the process.

While highlighting the designer-activist’s 25-year career, the collection prioritizes recycled materials, innovative uses of raw materials such as industrial corn and recycled vegetable oil in coated fabrics and certified organic cotton and wool. For this reason, the press conference for this widely discussed collection was particularly noteworthy and important for the fashion world.

Speaking about the collaboration, McCartney said: "This time, I especially wanted younger and broader audiences to access my products. I hate how elitist my industry can be, it has never aligned with who I am. Producing with fair wages, sourcing better materials, developing mushroom-based leather alternatives, all of these increase my costs. I genuinely produce and develop in a more expensive way. If I want to build a healthy business and create a structure that can transform the industry, I can’t absorb all these costs into my profit margin. That’s why I’ve always been uncomfortable with this.” She explained that this is why she accepted the capsule collection proposal.

Regarding the collection, she added: "The first collection I created for the brand sold out within minutes. I believed it served a good purpose. Now, everything in this collection carries a message for me. This time, I focused on informing people, educating them and explaining things clearly. I was very determined about this. I said, ‘I want real information.’ For example, I wanted every label to include details. Even if someone looking at this collection has no idea what ‘sustainable’ means, I want them to pause and say, ‘Wait, is this recycled polyester?’ Then, when they go to another fast-fashion brand and see only ‘polyester’ written, they might wonder what that means and perhaps feel encouraged to learn more.”

So, did a fast-fashion brand manage to meet the designer’s expectations regarding sustainability? McCartney responded: "Years ago, in the first collection, H&M truly met sustainability expectations, I have to give them credit. One reason I agreed to collaborate again years later is that they didn’t stop at that point. Others might have said, ‘Great, we used her name, it gave us a good sustainability image, we’re done.’ But they continued. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come back.” With this, she continued to candidly address some of the doubts surrounding the collaboration.

The designer emphasized that every system should aim to transform itself: "I believe change must come from within. You need to enter the system, influence it from the inside and offer positive solutions. I think this collaboration represents exactly that. Working together... And for me, benefiting from the scale of a brand like H&M is very important. You have to replace bad business models with good ones. If this team is already working with certain suppliers, but I can introduce new ones, and they can say, ‘You know what, from now on we’ll use 80% recycled crystals and stop using virgin materials,’ that’s when real impact happens. It can change the way business is done and eventually even influence laws. Because unless laws and policies change, most companies won’t act just because they want a cleaner planet. They have profit targets, employees to pay and responsibilities to meet. So if you can show that this is scalable – and that you don’t have to compromise on quality for the sake of kindness or awareness – then I think this is a very important moment for the business world. It’s also a very important moment for conscious consumers.”