Stella McCartney's Boss Said She Would Fail Because She's A Woman
Stella McCartney certainly gets the last laugh..
The beloved British designer may have taken home the two most prestigious awards at last night's British Fashion Awards, but McCartney wasn't always on top.
In fact, there was a time when the Brit had no hope of ever making it anywhere in the industry.
Accepting the coveted awards for both Designer Brand and Designer of the Year, Vogue U.K. reports McCartney told the audience that she was told she would "fail" by a senior fashion boss before starting her namesake label.
After stepping down as creative director at Chloé, a boss who she refused to name, strongly advised McCartney to leave Paris.
"He said to me: 'Stella, you will live to regret this. You will fail, and I offer to you to stay here in Paris and start your brand with us,'" she recounted. "I was really grateful for his offer, but I stuck to my instincts and told him that I still wanted to go. As I left he said - in a French accent - 'You need to learn. There has never in history of fashion been a British fashion house with a woman's name on the label that has ever been truly global.'"
"So I guess I have to thank him - Mr Anonymous," McCartney said. "I will never forget the way that I felt when I left his office. I could not have felt more determined to prove him wrong. With this award, I feel like I am at the start of doing that, and this is for everyone who ever believed in me - from the women that wear my clothes, to the women that choose Stella as their home here in London, when they could work anywhere in the world."
