Come One, Come All, Come Together
Review of Stella McCartney Spring 2026 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Intuitive Innovation, Uncompromised Craftsmanship, Call for Unity
Stella McCartney has always remained an industry outlier in her over two decades in business. Championing a more sustainable way to do business, she has shown time and again what is possible. Rather than dial back her efforts when economic downturns (and there have been many since she founded her brand in 2001, not to mention a global pandemic) she has doubled down every season. Conscious that paying that bit more to ensure a worker is treated fairly, is not just a nice to have, rather its a necessity. McCartney has made her better practices so ingrained within her brands DNA, that her customer never has to second-guess their purchasing decisions.
The ongoing protection, as well as the flocking together of birds, played a significant role in her collections theme. The lyrics to the song Come Together (released by The Beatles in 1969) was one she heard throughout her childhood, and whose lyrics were spoken by Dame Helen Mirren at the start of the show, in a surprise live performance. The message of which McCartney felt was more relevant than ever in todays fractured world, telling The Impression backstage “I love that there is the coming together of all of humanity, Mother Earths creatures now more than ever, the song was written so many years ago, but it meant the same thing then as it does now which is extraordinary. I wanted to show that we haven’t moved on enough. This song is still so important.” For the designer it was not just the coming together of humanity, but as is her creative principle ‘animals and Mother Earth’ were included in the mix. And as playful as ever, for her the words have evolved into a ‘double-entendre, adopting new meanings: Come Together is how life begins’ as was committed to print in her now seasonal collector’s edition newspaper.
This season the collection was ‘crafted with 98% conscious, 100% cruelty-free materials’ and introduced two world-firsts. The first was the debut of denim featuring a new ‘air-purifying, carbon-absorbing’ technology called PURE.TECH, proven (via independent verification) to eliminate carbon dioxide as it is worn. And second a vegan alternative to feathers cheekily called FEVVERS, and was a call-back to the spring 2025 collection when those who had gathered backstage were enlightened by the fact that McCartney shared “The fashion industry alone harms and kills 3.4 billion ducks, geese, chickens and more.” This hyper-real, cruelty-free innovation offers a viable solution to the fashion industry’s over-reliance on feathers to add drama to eveningwear and warmth to down jackets.
Stella McCartney is not alone in her mission to create more responsibly throughout her supply chain, but among the big names she is one of the few who have remained consistent, without compromise. Her designs stand shoulder-to-shoulder with (and sometimes a head above) her peers and prove what can be done in a sustainable way if the industry were to recommit for the long-term.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
We need to come together as an industry and wake up, you can still escape, and you can still dream through fashion, you don’t have to compromise. You can dream, but you don’t have to kill animals, that’s always been my mission.”
Stella McCartney, Creative Director, Stella McCartney
THE WRAP UP
Fashion is nothing, if not, prolific for its short-term memory. It was not more than a decade ago that the industry decided to dive head first into the latest social movement, and that was sustainability and corporate social responsibility. From recycled polyester to regenerative cotton, buying better and take-back programmes. But as consumers interest in doing the right thing started to wane, so did fashion’s commitment, and so it was left to a few outliers to make up the difference.
Making her commitment to change part of the Stella McCartney DNA, buying into the brand results in less heavy-lifting for the customer when it comes to making better fashion choices. The ‘automation’ of sustainable practices is what can accelerate how it is adopted industry-wide, and what can be achieved – from her Vegan Elyse platform shoe (2015) to launching grape leather in partnership with Veuve Clicquot (2024) – will continue to evolve and drive the fusion of craft and responsible design.
