Stella McCartney has been named Peta’s “person of the year” for being a “visionary” and “animal-friendly” fashion designer.
McCartney, 53, has been an advocate of cruelty-free luxury fashion for years and recently launched a clothing campaign to draw attention to the environmental crisis.
The designer has also joined People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (Peta) feather-free pledge, calling on designers and retailers to ditch the use of bird feathers.
Sir Paul McCartney with his daughters Stella and Mary (Ian West/PA)
McCartney has credited her father, Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney, and her late mother, Linda, with helping to “shape what animal rights are today” through their collaborations with Peta.
Alongside their work with the animal rights charity, Sir Paul is the co-founder of the Meat Free Monday campaign, while Linda has a vegetarian food range named after her.
McCartney said: “Peta and my parents collaborated to shape what animal rights are today, which is why I feel so honoured and privileged to be named Person of the Year.
“I have felt connected and committed to this courageous, rebellious, kick-ass movement since I was very young, from our joint video calling to ban fur farms in the UK in 1998 to our feather-free pledge for the fashion industry in 2024.
“I feel so proud to have a team around me who also see the importance in raising awareness not only for animal rights, but human rights and our planet as well.
“I look forward to continuing our mission with Peta, giving a voice to the voiceless and, I hope, ending animal suffering once and for all.”
Peta founder Ingrid Newkirk said: “Stella McCartney’s rallying cry for cows and birds is just her latest wonderful action in a long career spent creating fabulous designs free of leather, feathers and fur.
“Peta is delighted to recognise her as our 2024 person of the year and urges brands still stealing what belongs on animals’ backs to take a page out of her lookbook and embrace creative, animal-friendly materials.”
McCartney’s latest campaign, led by the message It’s About F****** Time, gives a platform to the brand’s “advocation for the planet and cruelty-free, luxury fashion”, according to its website.
It refers to when McCartney wore a custom shirt with the sassy slogan during her father’s inauguration into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1999.
Previous recipients of the person of the year accolade include Carrie Johnson, the wife of former prime minister Boris Johnson, and TV presenter and dog lover Paul O’Grady, who received the title posthumously last year.