McCartney aims to tune into Chinese women

By Chen Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-04 10:13

Designer Stella McCartney is banking on Beijing's luxury destination, the China World Trade Center, to help boost her growing profile in China.

The daughter of former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, opened the 1,292-square-feet store earlier this year and is now using it to showcase her autumn/winter 2008 collection of ready-to-wear, cruelty-free accessories, lingerie, fragrances and organic skincare lines. The collection introduces the brand's trademark sharpness and femininity, featuring strong architectural shapes playing with volume and texture. Intricate fabric and embroidery techniques accentuate the brand's roots and British history.

Blended felts in soft merino wool handmade in Somerset, England in pale chalk with storm grey motifs are presented to create a delicate and warm cocoon. Boiled knitwear is structured into classic tailoring, giving it a constructed feel, softened by deconstructed capes. Metal chains of different sizes and patterns are cut out and applied onto light silk georgette. Fine silk chiffon with Lurex jacquard is needle-punched onto wool cashmere, highlighting the lame pattern creating a delicate felted effect.

Stella McCartney graduated from a London design school in 1995 and after only two collections, was appointed creative director of Chloe in Paris in 1997 and enjoyed great success during her time there.

In 2001, McCartney launched her own fashion label as a joint venture with Gucci Group. Her collections, including women's ready-to-wear, accessories, eyewear, fragrance and organic skincare, are available at 600 luxury stores in London, New York, Moscow, Shanghai, Los Angeles and other major cities worldwide.

Now McCartney is expanding vigorously in China. In May last year, just three months after announcing that her company had reached profitability, she signed a deal to give the Lane Crawford Joyce Group exclusive distribution rights to the Stella McCartney brand on the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.

The Shanghai store opened last year, followed by stores at Hong Kong's prime shopping district Tsim Sha Tsui and Beijing's China World Trade Center in April.

"From the achievement of our Shanghai store, we've seen a promising future for Stella McCartney's business in China," says Marco Bizzarri, CEO and president of Stella McCartney.

"We are confident because Stella McCartney is not simply a luxury brand but introduces a lifestyle," he says. "A lifelong vegetarian, Stella McCartney does not use any leather or fur in her designs and promotes an organic and healthy life."

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