If you adore designer fashion but don’t have the wallet to match your tastes, you’ll be pleased to hear that Stella McCartney and H&M are are teaming up for a collaboration, 20 years on from their first partnership. So if you’ve always dreamed of owning a piece designed by activist and English fashion designer, this may be your opportunity to score it at a more affordable price point.
True to McCartney’s reputation as a pioneer in ethical fashion, the Spring ’26 (autumn for us southern hemisphere folk) collection is built on a foundation of certified, responsible materials, featuring innovative recycled fabrics and “Stella codes” like sharp tailoring and gender-fluid silhouettes.
Why Do A Second Stella McCartney X H&M Collection Now?
It’s been just over 20 years since McCartney’s first collaboration with global fashion brand H&M, with their first collection having launched in November 2005. In fact, the Stella McCartney 2005 partnership with H&M was the latter’s second-ever designer collaboration, with the first having been with the late Karl Lagerfeld.
While McCartney often says no to creative partnerships and attaching her name to other brands because of differences in values, in a digital press conference, she said that she was happy to work with H&M again because despite being a fast fashion label, they are working on ways to become more sustainable.
“H&M didn’t just leave it there, which I think a lot of other people could’ve done. They could’ve gone ‘okay great we’ve used her name, she’s made us look good in sustainability, we’re not gonna practice it anymore’,” McCartney said.
Both McCartney and H&M’s creative advisor and head of design, Ann-Sofie Johannson, said that this second partnership is an opportunity to showcase how far the brand has come in sustainability since it last worked with McCartney.
“One of the reasons why we’re collaborating again is to show the progress we’ve made in 20 years and that Stella inspired us to be better,” Johannson said.
Speaking to one of the pieces from the new collection — a bedazzled crystal shirt made from 80 per cent recycled glass — Johannson said that “back then, it [sustainability] wasn’t even a conversation”.
“Infiltrating From Within”: Why Stella McCartney Returned To H&M
McCartney said that in order to agree to this partnership, everything had to be a certain way or else she refused to do it. She calls it “infiltrating from within”.
“It was very much a concept that I’ve led in my career which is very much infiltrating from within and having conversations with people that are like the devil in a sense, and then trying to change them into shifting in a cleaner way of working and a more conscious way of working,” McCartney explained.
Imagine calling the brand you’re working with the devil… bye.
Johannson said that while H&M is a fast fashion company, it wants to be part of the solution rather than the problem.
“We can make a big change,” she pointed out. “We’re going to do better and do more.”
McCartney said that there doesn’t have to be a sacrifice of style for sustainability, and her collection with H&M proves that.
“Information is key… I was adamant; I was like ‘I want facts on all those swing tags’,” she said.
H&M has a sustainability rating of three out of five from Good On You, a company that explores the ethical practices of fast fashion and high street labels. The rating is called “it’s a start”, as the brand “uses some lower-impact materials including recycled materials, however it does not publish an aggregate breakdown of materials used.”
On the H&M Group website, the brand states it’s focussed on cutting down greenhouse gas emission, reducing the amount of resources used, and improving the livelihoods of the people connected to the business.
“I Hate How Elitist My Industry Is”: Stella McCartney On Fashion’s Image Problem
McCartney’s reasons for working with H&M a second time around aren’t just centred around sustainability; she also wants to widen her audience to a younger demographic. Problem is, a lot of people in the younger generations can’t afford to fork out $2,000 on a top and $3,000 on a bag.
“It’s one of the reasons I did [the H&M collaboration] the first time round,” McCartney said.
“I want a younger, wider audience to have access to my stuff. I hate how elitist my industry is.”
McCartney said that the exclusionary nature of high end designer fashion goes against her nature as a person. However, working in a more sustainable fashion means she needs to price her pieces higher.
“I hate that working in a sustainable way, sourcing better, growing mushroom leathers means that my price points are higher because I am sourcing and supplying and making and in a much more costly way, and I can’t soak it all up in my margin if I want to have a healthy business,” she explained.
McCartney said that it breaks her heart when she has people tell her that they love her designs, but can’t afford them due to the luxury price tag. By collaborating with H&M, it makes her pieces more accessible.
“This is not the cheapest of the cheap because there is a price that comes to doing anything good with innovation,” McCartney stressed.
“This is an access area for all I hope, or certainly for a lot more than normal with me, so I’m excited about it.”
Image credit: H&M
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