Ever the committed environmentalist, Stella McCartney has cast members of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion in her latest campaign for winter 2019. Shot by British photographer Johnny Dufort, members Deya Ward, Ruby Munslow and Tori Tsui appear in dreamlike scenes along the bucolic Welsh coast, highlighting the beauty of the natural world and driving home the importance of preserving and protecting our planet.
Fashion is rife with faux activism and empty ethical promises but Stella McCartney, who has campaigned for ethical and sustainable practices throughout her career, never fails to blow us away with her commitment to environmental change. Fighting for greener fashion via her label and by using her platform to amplify initiatives such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Circular Economy, this campaign is the latest in a long line designed to inspire industry change.
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Alongside the Extinction Rebellion activists, American model Amber Valletta stars in the campaign. A longtime friend of McCartney's, she's devoted her career to encouraging sustainability in fashion through partnering with H&M on its Conscious Collection and working with Fashion Revolution to highlight unfair industry practices. Models Emma Laird, Chloe Pearson, Chu Wong and Trinity Hill – "selected for being voices for change in their own field" – also feature.
A short film accompanying the campaign will be revealed in September, just in time for fashion month. In it, British environmentalist Jane Goodall will read a poem by Jonathan Safran Foer (whose book Eating Animals is a vegan tome), including sentiments like: "Here is where we are born without choosing to be born, but then choose how to live. Here is where we have our long moment, where we cannot help but leave things differently than how we found them, and have the choice to leave things better. Here and only here are we home." The winter 2019 campaign will also include a social media series called How to Save the World, sharing small ways we can all fight the ongoing climate crisis.
Of course, the collection itself is as much of a commitment to change as the campaign. Upcycled rainbow dresses made from archival fabric and horse-print jacquard dresses made with sustainable viscose all feature, while all denim is made with organic cotton. Sunglasses are made from the brand's biodegradable bio-acetate and micro bags from ECONYL® regenerated nylon. The collection will be available from Stella McCartney stores and online from August 2019.