Vegan Luxe - Stella McCartney - Mini-style Review

Today I'll be reviewing what I consider to be the quintessential vegan luxury brand, Stella McCartney, named after the designer. Not only is Stella committed to ethical, cruelty-free production of her line and within her fashion house, she is also committed to giving back to her community and promoting a vegan lifestyle and diet. Of course, she is the notable daughter of Linda and Paul McCartney, thereby being associated with my all-time favorite band (if you know me in-real-life, you know that my all time favorite band is the Beatles and I am an avid vintage Beatles t-shirt collector).

In 2018, Stella McCartney opted to buy back her entire brand and take full control over it, after losing some control earlier in the brand's life. Her reason for this move was mainly to maintain the ethicality of production of the brand, a move that many in the animal rights and ethical fashion world applauded and respected.

Let's get right into a quick review of current styles in the McCartney fashion house. The key notable bag produced since the inception of the brand has been variants of the Falabella bag. This bag is defined by a mid-structured to loose-structured style, depending on the size, and a chain edging. Larger versions of the bag fold over when sitting, and have a handle for an elegant arm style carry, which is my personal favorite way to carry a bag. Smaller versions of the Falabella are often rectangular, larger than a wallet on a chain and closer to the LV Favorite or Pouchette size, and are more structured, with a firm rectangular appearance and often a fold over the opening with a magnetic closure.

The originality of the Falabella bag is one of my favorite things about it. It uses a luxe classic, the chain, as part of its design, similar to the high-end fashion houses of Paris we are used to. But the use of the chain is completely original and defines the brand.

Moving on to the monogrammed styles -- in all bag offerings, plus shoes and small not-leather goods, the Stella monogram is available in white, neutral, black or rose. The Stella McCartney monogram style is simple, clean and recognizable, if perhaps a little too simple. It reads nicely as a neutral when worn in any color.

Stella also offers a simple tote (pictured above), which I won't review much here other than to say I admire the notability of the handle style and the increased structure of the bag compared to other luxury totes.

After Meghan Markle opted for a Stella McCartney dress for her reception in early 2018, the designer released similar dresses in her ready-to-wear lines in the fall of 2018. The exact replica dress also became available at that time. All dresses in Stella's line currently have that Meghan Markle vibe, with clean lines, limited embellishments, and accentuate one area of the figure while flowing out over all other areas, creating a balanced and modest silhouette.

In 2019, Stella released many variants of the Elyse sneaker, which is a take on the dad-shoe trend that is popular here in the US and in Europe. I have to say I don't find the style wearable for my purposes, but I can see how in perhaps a more urban-casal daily-environment it might fit. Whether the Elyse becomes a trend or a long-running staple of the brand will remain to be seen as the trend ebbs and flows over the next few years.

That's it for today on my mini-style review of the Stella brand. If you liked this post or agree or disagree, please comment. And if you're looking to vegan luxury brands, consider Stella!