Time and time again, Stella McCartney proves animals are the star of her show.
Emblematic of the designer’s fall 2023 collection which proudly featured horses and models in unison, her brand’s latest partnership is with New York-based wild horse nonprofit Rewilding America Now.
Held Wednesday evening at Stella McCartney’s SoHo boutique, the event served as an educational moment and signal to broader conservation aims. The event featured a question-and-answer session with Rewilding America Now’s founder Manda Kalimian. The conversation platformed the importance of rewilding initiatives and the preservation of North America’s wild horses and lands.
To the memory of fashion historians, McCartney’s fall 2023 show took place at the Manège de l’École Militaire, depicting France’s historic riding school. Models and ponies moved gracefully under the watchful eye of horse whisperer and rescuer Jean-François Pignon.
Formerly the Cana Foundation, Rewilding America Now has a sizable project in the works and is seeking fashion’s collective force. The nonprofit set the goal to purchase more than 55 miles of land in Birch Creek, Idaho. Given the importance and the magnitude of this project, Kalimian said she and her team felt a rebrand was necessary to speak to the initiatives and the growth of the foundation.
“This is the place that we are going to prove to the world that wild horses here in the United States are truly an integral component to the natural system, they are keystone species that are going to help us build grasslands to sequester carbon and be the leader in climate change initiatives,” she said.
Moreover, a portion of the proceeds generated from sales before, during and after the event will be donated to Rewilding America Now in support of the Birch Creek project, and more to come. This initial collaboration attempts to bridge cause-based commerce with conservation.
Michael Nathanson, managing director and chief executive officer of Rewilding America Now, offered more insight on fashion’s influence: “Fashion partnerships are a critical component to sharing the message of sustainability. People associate themselves with the style, the feeling and the look of the fashion and the designers they choose to wear. Aligning with designers like Stella McCartney that are really being sustainable with their manufacturing and their messaging helps bring people to a greater connection to themselves, feeling good about their choices, and that they are contributing and doing their part to help, opening up the opportunity to take the next steps to doing more.”