Stella McCartney is celebrating Earth Day 2021 by backing Greenpeace’s ongoing efforts to halt deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest.
The sustainable luxury brand — founded back in 2001 by its namesake, English fashion designer Stella McCartney — just launched a new capsule to spotlight Greenpeace’s ongoing work, highlight the benefits the rainforest brings, and explore the causes of deforestation.
This new collection is 100 percent vegan; each garment consists of soft, certified organic cotton, produced without pesticides or fertilizers. The capsule includes two t-shirt and two sweatshirt designs, each taking cues from vintage “eco-activist” aesthetics and bearing slogans such as “save the Amazon, save the planet.”
Stella McCartney Cares Foundation will also make a donation to Greenpeace to support its Act for the Amazon Campaign. Both organizations will celebrate significant anniversaries this year, with Stella McCartney turning 20 and Greenpeace 50, another inspiration for their collaboration.
“Stella McCartney has been a vegetarian brand since day one, and we are supporting Greenpeace in its fight against Amazon deforestation,” says McCartney in a video uploaded to YouTube earlier today. “Together we must protect this vital ecosystem and support the rights of indigenous communities who are affected.”
“We cannot have sustainability without solidarity,” she continues. “We must act now before we lose the Amazon forever.”
What’s the problem with deforestation?
According to Greenpeace, 1.2 million trees are cut down every day in the Amazon rainforest, impacting the flora, fauna, and people that live in the unique region.
“The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest, home to 400 billion trees, 10 percent of the planet’s animal species as well as 30 million people,” reads the Stella McCartney press release. “It is also Earth’s largest land carbon sink, absorbing and sequestering 90-140 billion metric tonnes of carbon.”
The Stella McCartney brand first committed to a zero-deforestation policy in 2014 and achieved it by 2016. It also uses sustainably sourced paper and wood, in addition to cutting edge, plant-based ingredients such as Mylo — a vegan leather made with mycelium — and recycled plastic.
Both Greenpeace and Stella McCartney highlight the roles of mining and industrial animal agriculture in the continuing deforestation of this invaluable natural resource. “Something to chew on,” continues the release. “If we all ate plant-based diets, it would take 75% less land to feed the entire planet.”
#StellaTalks Earth Day
To celebrate Earth Day further, McCartney has also introduced a speaker series called #StellaTalks to showcase environmental activists and messages. Alice Aedy, a filmmaker and the co-founder of Earthrise — a media platform that tackles the subject of climate change —will co-host the six-part project.
“It is a huge honour and truly a dream come true to partner with @stellamccartney, a pioneering brand who have championed sustainability long before it was a fashion industry buzzword. At earthrise, we resonate with Stella’s values, making every action count in a bid to have the least impact on our environment,” wrote Aedy on Instagram.
The inaugural event — also featuring the executive director of Amazon Watch Leila Salazar-López, actor Nathalie Kelley, and environmental and indigenous rights activist Nina Gualinga — is titled StellaTalks x Earthrise: Defending the Amazon.
Stella McCartney’s flagship store in London, UK will host the event later today. It will also be live-streamed on social media from 7 pm BST, 22 April.
The Stella McCartney x Greenpeace collection costs between £250 and £550 and will be available from select retailers and the Stella McCartney website from 23 April.
