Simply Abu Dhabi XX

1 7 0 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I S T E L L A M C C A R T N E Y "Celebrating freedom" and "exploring classics" sound like they should be on opposite sides of the style spectrum – one without constraints, the other underpinned by safety and parameters. However Stella McCartney manages to perfectly fuse the two. In 1997, McCartney was appointed creative director of Parisian fashion house Chloé, following in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld . McCartney’s time at Chloé was both a commercial and critical success, her easy interpretation of the house’s codes fitting well with her own fluid tailoring and sense of proportion. In 2001, McCartney showed her first collection in Paris under her own name in a joint venture with the Gucci Group. The Stella McCartney brand now operates 23 freestanding stores in locations including Manhattan’s SoHo, London’s Mayfair and Brompton Cross, L.A.’s West Hollywood, Paris’ Palais Royal, Milan and Tokyo. Her collections are distributed in over 50 countries through 600 wholesale accounts and shipped to 100 countries online. Stella has managed to turn her British take on modern femininity into a global brand. She knows who she is dressing, the demands of daily life and how to marry that with the commands of fashion. In short, she will always have something not too scary but definitely stylish in her wardrobe that you will want. Stella’s autumn-winter 2015/2016 collection is no different. The defining characteristic of the Stella McCartney aesthetic is nonchalance and no-fuss clothes that don’t stint on fun. However, it’s a hard look to achieve and not many designers pull it off as effortlessly as she does. In typical Stella style silhouettes were easy to wear, breezy for shirts and structured for when the office calls. Trousers were made interesting with simple design techniques such as deep cuffs or paper-bag waistbands. Jackets came with wrapping details at the waist or buttoned askew, deeming them unsuitable for business, purely for pleasure.