Stella McCartney’s 2024 Winter campaign: ‘It’s About F*cking Time’ fashion ended its senseless killing of animals and our planet
Inspired by a custom tank top worn by McCartney during her father’s inauguration into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, the hard-hitting campaign calls for shoppers stop supporting the suffering and agonizing deaths of crocodiles and other animals.
Photo: Stella McCartney
Luxury fashion designer Stella McCartney has launched her Fall/Winter 2024 campaign, with animal rights taking center stage. Drawing inspiration from a custom tank top she wore to her father Paul McCartney's Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1999, featuring the words "It’s About Fucking Time," the new collection reimagines this bold message to inspire action for climate change and animal rights.
The campaign features actor Eva Mendes and singer/songwriter Raye, “both a strong female voice passionate about causes of their own”, hand-selected by McCartney for their advocacy backgrounds.
“I always want the platform of Stella McCartney to have an environmental message,” Stella McCartney told The Guardian. “I am here to remind people that this is one of the most harmful industries. But I’m not here to make people depressed and scared. I want to celebrate Mother Earth and all of her creatures and to remind us all to be conscious of that, but at the same time, I want it to be an uplifting experience.
”We all get angry, but anger is not a positive form of energy for me, and I don’t think anger helps,” she continued. “We are solution-driven, here. We are not cutting down rainforests to make way for animal agriculture, we’re not using plastics in our sequins.”
The collection is 90 percent crafted from responsible materials including bio based vegan alternatives such as UPPEAL, a cruelty-free croc-embossed material innovated from apple waste, alongside iconic Falabella bags coated in Airlite, a pioneering air-purifying technology. As with all of McCartney’s collections, it is free from leather, feathers, fur and exotic skins. “The message is clear; it’s about fucking time fashion ended its senseless killing of animals and our planet”, the campaign concludes.
“No Leather Ever”
To mark the campaign launch, Stella McCartney teamed up with PETA for an eye-catching demonstration during New York Fashion Week. The display launched in the window of McCartney’s SoHo flagship store, where actor Caylee Cowan and activists wore nothing but vegan Elyse platform shoes, Stella McCartney sunglasses, underwear by The Period Company, and signs reading “No Leather Ever.” The group then marched to Washington Square Park.
Stella McCartney x PETA 'Rather Go Naked' Protest. Credit: PETA
“I’m happy to bare some skin if it helps animals keep theirs,” says Cowan. “Stella McCartney is proving once again how stylish vegan fashion can be, and I’m proud to partner with her and PETA to help move the industry toward a kinder future.”
This demo reimagined PETA’s iconic "I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign, which ran for 30 years and featured stars like Christy Turlington, Tyra Banks, P!nk, and Christina Applegate. It also paid homage to Pamela Anderson’s 2006 appearance in McCartney’s London flagship windows, where she posed naked behind a banner reading "We’d Rather Bare Skin Than Wear Skin" to raise funds for PETA.
“I have never used leather in any of my collections, and PETA was one of the first organizations to champion my vision for a cruelty-free fashion industry,” says McCartney. “I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect partner for launching my Winter 2024 campaign with a very activist spirit—because it really is about f*cking time we ended the use of leather.”
Stella McCartney x PETA 'Rather Go Naked' Protest. Credit: PETA
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk praised Stella McCartney's pioneering work in the fashion industry, stating, “Stella McCartney has pushed fashion forward with creativity, innovation, and compassion, while some other designers remain stuck in the Stone Age—still making clothes from animal skins,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA loves partnering with Stella to chart an ethical, sustainable future for the fashion industry together and to urge everyone to leave leather on the rack—or, better yet, on an animal’s back.”
The action also celebrated the launch of PETA’s No Leather Ever pledge, which calls on consumers to take a stand against the violence of the toxic global leather industry by vowing to ditch animal skins.
Each year, over a billion animals are killed by the global leather industry. Cows used for leather may be skinned and dismembered while still conscious, following painful procedures like castration, branding, and tail docking—often performed without any pain relief. Beyond the immense cruelty inflicted on animals, the leather industry also plays a significant role in climate change, land degradation, deforestation, pollution, water contamination, and the loss of biodiversity.
You can shop the new Stella winter collection in-store and at stellamccartney.com.
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