Stella McCartney unveils summer campaign with animal sanctuary and Yoshitomo Nara link

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 28, 2023

Stella McCartney has launched its summer 2023 campaign starring “next-gen actor and animal lover” Madelyn Cline. The shoot happened at The Gentle Barn animal sanctuary in Santa Clarita, California and was inspired by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara’s ‘Change the History’ activist slogan.

Nara’s illustrations and punk social statements feature in the collection, with McCartney saying it all “serves as a call-to-action to a new generation of changemakers, inviting them to raise their voices for our fellow creatures and Mother Earth”.

“The animals’ names and unique stories feature prominently in the shoot’s storytelling, reinforcing a message that all creatures should be loved regardless of age or species”. 

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And the company said this will be supported by activations at Stella McCartney boutiques globally, “helping to raise awareness for animal rights causes”.

The collection itself is free from leather, feathers, fur and exotic skins, with the ready-to-wear offering made using “91% responsible materials”. It also includes “the world’s first-ever luxury garment made from regenerative cotton, sourced from the Stella McCartney’s SOKTAS project in Turkey”. 

This project was launched in 2019 and is now run in partnership with LVMH. It’s collaborating with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to advance blockchain traceability technology. 

As mentioned, the overall collection and shoot were inspired by Yoshitomo Nara’s slogan. McCartney has worked with the artist before and this season’s offer is their third collaboration. The summer 23 collection includes Nara’s illustrations of “big-eyed girls, sinister children in animal costumes and activist slogans”, on stretchy crinkle knit dresses, T-shirts and dresses with bias-cut hems.

They previously collaborated on the brand’s unisex line “which saw sell out success”, but this was the first time in history Nara’s pieces have ever featured on a catwalk.