If these people can't make a connection between animal agriculture
and the planet, then we really are in trouble.
Information is key.
You know what you're doing at Plant Based News is critical and you have to have
gentle, open minded, open hearted conversations.
So first up Stella, Thank you so much for doing this interview.
How is COP28 going for you?
COP28 is going well for us at Stella McCartney So far,
you know, we're the only fashion house really represented here
in an industry that is second most harmful to the planet.
So I feel like we have a lot of work to do. But,
you know, it's been really received positively here.
We've got Stella's Sustainable Solutions installation behind me
and I'm just showcasing all the innovators and the future of tomorrow's
fashion industry.
And in less than one minute, how do you see the fashion industry
evolving in terms of sustainability and ethical practices over the coming years?
I think the fashion industry in the coming years will evolve
on sustainability, hopefully in a more mindful and caring way.
I mean, at Stella McCartney are our big kind of pushes on animal
welfare and animal cruelty. So,
you know, that's our big thing.
But I think in order to have a conversation
in the industry and somewhere like this
cop, you need to come at it in a slightly different way.
You need to be talking about a billion animals a year being killed for,
you know, for fashion.
But also the human welfare aspect there, I think, is
something that people can actually connect with and how the can...
the you know, the chemicals that are used to turn the leathers can be cancerous.
And so that's a conversation that we have as well, just so people can connect
a little more.
And obviously things are changing, but they're not really changing fast enough.
So the impact is big.
You know, that amount of animals being killed is cutting down about 17%
of our rainforests.
It's using water inefficiently energy inefficiently, grain inefficiently.
So at Stella McCartney We just want to show the solutions.
That's really what we're here to
do, is to show there is a better way for the future of fashion.
Do you think he would have been as interested in the fashion industry
if it wasn't for the issues
that you've just spoken about, how much of a driver have these been?
Yeah, I mean, for me, I think I come at things obviously
a little differently from everyone else in my industry.
I don't know if I would still be doing fashion at this stage in my career
if it were not for the really, truly meaningful, important role that I now
play here in trying to bring awareness and information to the consumer.
You know, we're talking to politicians here and world leaders,
and being at COP is the big push is to try and get policy change,
to try and get some legislation in place to control the world of fashion
so that they have limitations and also to invent, you know, incentivize
the future generations that want to come into this business.
Fashion designing alone doesn't feed my soul.
It does creatively.
But for me, I really find it
so rewarding to try and save the planet at the same time.
It's the same with me and what we're doing.
Obviously, I'm into media, I’m into video editing, but it's definitely been
the passion for sustainability and veganism
and all the issues we care about that kind of driven the motivation.
I wanted to talk about
COP28 serving meat and the food sector, specifically plant-based.
This has received a lot of criticism over the last year.
I always respond to people that talk about this
and say progress isn't always linear.
Often it happens in like an S-curve.
Has the fashion industry received the same pushback over the past year?
Yeah, I mean, I think in the fashion sector, there's so much to talk about.
The industry is so complex and there's so many different elements to it that
really do damage the planet.
It's hard
because so many good things have come into the industry.
There's a lot of greenwashing, unfortunately,
but I think there's change happening slowly,
and I think something's better than nothing.
We have to remain positive like we have to because it's too depressing if we don't.
But as far as meat being served at COP, it's madness.
You know,
the first one I went to was in Glasgow a couple of years ago, and every dinner
I was asked to talk at every event, had meat in the green rooms and, you know,
right there at dinners, it was being served while I was speaking.
And, you know, I think my thing is to shout it out
and to actually let people know and make a connection.
Because if these people can't make a connection between
animal agriculture and the planet, then we really are in trouble.
A couple of years in, I've been to a lot of plant based
events here, and so I've got a little hope.
But I have to say, I went to a dinner the other night.
I won't say where it was, but like one of the most powerful
environmental dinners and they were serving meat and fish.
So I was like, We need to wake up and make the connection.
I think my point is it's hard, you know, for people to
people get very focused in on their agenda and what they're trying to do
and they forget.
I think the last thing on the agenda, sadly, is animal agriculture.
And so I feel like I'm
the one here representing that conversation and fashion.
I agree.
It's so frustrating
that this issue of moving away from black culture isn't high up on the agenda.
I wanted to ask you about the fashion industry
because I believe you'd agree that shifting away from animal products
and leather is the single biggest thing in this sector we can do.
So what do you say to people that kind of criticize this
and say there are some outliers that are actually worse
for the environment There are some animal alternatives that are
really bad for the environment?
Yeah.
I think that the problem with this conversation is
if you're trying to do good, a lot of the time, people will just still
try and sort of shame you and blame you and try and bring out the negative.
The reality is with the meat industry and with animal agriculture and fashion,
this whole kind of conversation about it being a byproduct,
I mean, it's just nonsense. It's just sheer nonsense.
So, you know, I'm here to also sort of let people know that's a lie
that's been created by the meat industry and by the leather boards.
You know, these are powerful industries and it's just simply not true.
Can I just interject?
because I think we use for our views, why is it a lie?
Is it because when people buy into this industry, they create with demands
which then creates a supply which then creates suffering?
I'm saying that there's no way that you can create a leather,
luxurious leather or any leather
that comes from a by product of somebody eating the animal first.
It's simply just they don't even work in the same locations.
The abattoir that kills the food
doesn't then take carefully the leather off the skin of the animal
and takes it to Italy to be made into a handbag.
It's just simply not the truth.
So I mean, and then in answer to your question
as to the alternative to that being a plastic and being obviously
not friendly for the environment, there is obviously an element to that.
But here at Stella McCartney.
And behind me you'll see we have we're bringing the solutions.
So we have an incredible new innovation from a young,
you know, young group of scientists.
And it's a product called MIRUM and it's a plastic free, you know, natural
based actually it’s made from rubber leather alternative and it's scalable.
I think the one thing that we're talking about here and Stella's solutions
on sustainability is you have to be able to take these innovations, these answers
for a better future in my industry, better sourcing, better supply chain.
They have to be scalable, so they have to come in at the same price point.
You have to be able to take them into real business, but
there's none of it's as bad as killing the animal in the first place.
The biggest impact we have at Stella McCartney
in a positive way for the environment is we do not use animals.
You know, we don't need leather, feathers, fur.
And that has the biggest impact on our environmental impact in a positive way.
And then we are trying to find the solutions to all of the kind
of microplastics that, you know, fake fur has some plastic element.
We don't buy that type of fake fur.
And here today you can see there's
a completely natural fake fur that has no plastic in it, too.
I think we're just trying to provide a better solution.
And obviously there's always a better solution for the better solution,
which is basically don't buy anything
anyway and, you know, just walk around in a load of regenerative cotton.
It's not as realistic as what we're trying to present here.
So we've walked around here and it's amazing what you're exhibiting.
But can you just explain for our viewers what it is you're showcasing
and how this is a massive step in the right direction?
I mean, what we're showcasing here at COP 28 is it really is the future of fashion.
It is absolutely the answer for tomorrow.
And I'm hoping that in a few years we'll have even better answers.
But I think it's not realistic to think you can just eliminate
all of the bad things in my industry because there's so many bad things
in my industry.
So I'm sort of every little step is better than nothing.
You know, there's a lot of animal products in the fashion industry and we have,
you know, we're trying to find a kind of solution there’s regenerative wools here.
I don't really want to use a product from a sheep, but if we're kind to the sheep,
that's my first hope.
If we're kind to the soil, you know, it's hugely stripping of nutrients
and it's a cruel industry.
So I'm sort of my first thing is trying to be kind
and loving and then to give back to nature.
But I think, you know, there's different steps in finding solutions.
And I think if you're too extreme
and too harsh, then you close the door down into a conversation.
And I'm really trying to just gently nudge people
and open their minds
because the people here at COP are the people that make decisions.
They make laws
that can change the future of everything we have the same intention for.
So you said earlier in the interview that you have to be outspoken
and this is why I admire you and what you've done so much.
Now you're saying you can't come across as extreme.
How do we walk? This tightrope?
Which is a feeling that I've often experience what I'm trying to advocate
for this this message is the problem, how we say it or what we say.
I think, look, I've grown up seeing the reaction to my parents.
My parents, you know, my mum founded a meat free company in 1991.
They became I’ve been a vegetarian all my life
and it was so weird.
We were ridiculed.
We made fun of in my industry, not using leather in luxury fashion
like I am an absolute eco weirdo freak in the room.
And now we're at a place where we can have these conversations.
People are becoming more aware, but you need to gently deliver information.
I think that's the key thing. If you're too aggressive
with a point of view, I don't think people can digest it.
They immediately get their backs up and you can see examples of other people
that do that and it doesn't work for them, let alone the animals and our planet.
So I think it is about finding a balance and walking a tightrope
and reading the room,
seeing who you're talking to and just try to sort of gently encourage them.
But information is key.
You know what you're doing at Plant Based News is critical and you have to have be
gentle, open minded, open hearted conversations.
You need to give people an option and you also need to not sacrifice
any style or any taste or, you know, people want beautiful fashion.
They want to wear beautiful things.
They want to escape into the world of fashion.
So if I give them, like a hemp handbag that's like cardboard
and is uncomfortable, it's landfill anyway, it doesn't really help anyone.
I genuinely, really enjoyed this interview Thank you.
Thank you so much, I’m a big fan of what you guys are doing.
Thank you for having me.