Fashion designer Stella McCartney has launched a new collection aimed at raising awareness about an under-the-radar issue in her industry: bird cruelty.
As detailed by One Green Planet, McCartney is passionate about humanity's connection with the natural world. Her brand has banned fur since its start in 2001. According to the company's website, McCartney soon hopes to introduce a plant-based faux fur to reduce the use of plastic.
However, McCartney explained in September that fur isn't the only animal rights issue within fashion, with around 1.5 billion birds dying every year as the industry harvests their feathers.
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"When you see a pretty feather trim, or a puffer jacket with a down filling, I don't think you necessarily register that a bird has been killed. And we all love birds, right?" McCartney said of the launch of her Peace and Dove campaign, per One Green Planet.
According to the report, the show opened with a message — delivered by Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren — inviting attendees to envision a world without birds. At first blush, one might be sad to imagine a walk in the park devoid of their songs. McCartney noted at her campaign launch that researchers have found birdsong can boost humans' mental health, per Vogue France.
As the National Audubon Society highlights, though, a world without birds would lose much more than music. That's because birds are essential for a healthy ecosystem. They fertilize soil with their droppings (helping plant life thrive), eat crop-destroying insects (ensuring our food systems stay intact), act as a cleanup crew (limiting potential disease spread), and more.
McCartney's Peace and Dove collection embraces the aesthetic appeal of the winged creatures while forgoing the cruelty associated with using their feathers. Moreover, her designs give Mother Nature an extra assist by repurposing plastic bottles (which mimic feathers) and electronic waste, preventing the items from ending up in landfills or as toxic and hazardous litter.
"For me, [birds] represent freedom, purity, and peace, and so I looked at things from a bird's perspective. It's about having a lightness of touch, that femininity, flight, and general weightlessness," McCartney said, according to The Impression.
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