Clothes horse! Stella McCartney brings seven protected wild Camargue horses to Paris Fashion Week as they canter alongside models to push her ‘leather-free’ message
- The horses were featured as Paris Fashion Week event got off to a racing start
- Stella McCartney asked: ‘Have you even seen a wild horse at a fashion show?’
For years the fashion runway has been a feline-associated domain, with models and designers gracing the so-called catwalk to show off the latest collections.
But today Stella McCartney – a prominent animal rights campaigner – staked a late claim on behalf of horses for her latest designs.
A hint of the surprise equine arrivals in the form of farmyard smells may not have been picked up by guests as they entered the riding school venue, L’École Militaire.
So when seven protected wild Camargue horses cantered in, many of the fashionistas may have been left wondering what else might have been in their glasses of champagne.
Afterwards McCartney – daughter of Beatle Paul – had told the stunned fashion press on a crowded balcony: ‘Have you even seen a wild horse at a fashion show, or a whisperer?’
Mane attraction: The seven protected wild Camargue horses were a huge surprise at the event
Horsing around: McCartney asked: ‘Have you even seen a wild horse at a fashion show, or a whisperer?’
Denied the neigh-sayers: Organisers had said McCartney was ‘crazy’ for the horse parade
She claimed organisers had called her ‘crazy’ for attempting to get wild horses to a show.
McCartney said winter was a good time to highlight cruelty-free designs with the unique spectacle of wild animals living, breathing and playing together.
‘I really wanted to make a connection with our fellow creatures because there is so much leather and fur and feathers on the runway, especially in winter,’ she added.
Here a model wears a creation as part of the Stella McCartney Fall/Winter 2023-2024 in Paris
Avril Lavigne arrives at the Stella McCartney Fall/Winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear collection presented today
Bags used vegan leather alternatives, such as MIRUM, a plant-based technology, AppleSkin, an apple-based material that creates a crocodile effect
‘I wanted to show that you can do (fashion) in a different way you don´t need to kill anything and it can be (just) as luxurious.’
Bags used vegan leather alternatives, such as MIRUM, a plant-based technology, AppleSkin, an apple-based material that creates a crocodile effect.
McCartney said the horses had many personal meanings to her, from the photography of her mother Linda and sister Mary to ‘being British,’ speaking to the love for horses that runs deep in the UK
Making hay: Two of the horses in particular appeared to have decided to snooze in the show
Seven horses were were part of McCartney’s show in the French capital Paris today
She said the message of the horses ‘is that they´re alive and the clothes haven´t killed anything so there´s a kind of celebration of everything living in harmony with one another.’
The horse handler was a star of the show. McCartney said she first saw him at a London horse show and was impressed with his work.
‘They are his wild horses. He doesn´t use any bridles, any saddles and he´s a horse whisperer – they´re his little babies,’ she said.
‘I can´t even get my dog to do that.’
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