Gigi and Bella Hadid star as Stella McCartney SS23 goes Y2K

Last season, Stella McCartney presented its winter 2022 show at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the city’s famous contemporary art museum, for a collection inspired by American minimalist artist Frank Stella.

Today, the label, which was founded in 2001, returned to the venue, this time to its courtyard, with a set that included coloured paths mirroring the Pompidou’s iconic facade. The front row included the likes of Karlie Kloss, Eva Chen, Derek Blasberg, Anna Wintour, Anna Dello Russo, CEO of LVMH Bernard Arnault — and the designer’s father Sir Paul McCartney.

Models crisscrossed the runway, with sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid following each other in quick succession. Supermodel Amber Valetta who has frequently worked with McCartney closed the show. In a second collaboration with the British designer, the work of Japanese painter Yoshimoto Nara was referenced via his illustrations of wide-eyed women.

Taking after her late mother Linda, McCartney is known for being a staunch animal rights and eco-activist, and never using fur and leather - this spring/summer collection is the label’s most ‘nature-positive’ to date made with 87% responsible materials. The collection also mined McCartney’s archive — and even her ‘late-90s tenure at Chloé — using silhouettes and details including asymmetric bias cuts, oversized visor-style sunglasses, racer tank straps, crystal cut-out embroidery and body chains.

The collection will surely appeal to Gen Z, with wide-leg denim cargo pants and leather motocross jackets (vegan, of course) that nods to the current TikTok obsession with all things Y2K. Although, it won’t be lost on older generations either, as this was a decidedly more sophisticated version of the trend.