Stella McCartney Says She’s ‘Very Aware’ of the Privileges She’s Had as ‘One of the First Nepo Babies’
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The fashion designer acknowledged her status in the industry as the daughter of legendary musician Paul McCartney in a new 'TIME' interview
Stella McCartney has had a groundbreaking career in fashion, but she’s not forgetting where she came from.
In a new interview with TIME released Wednesday, the 51-year-old designer — who’s branded herself as a steadfast proponent of expelling fur, leather, feathers and animal hide from her sustainable collections — addressed being a “nepo baby” of former Beatle Paul McCartney and his late wife Linda, herself an animal rights activist and artist.
“As one of the first nepo babies I had the privilege of choice. I’m very aware of how lucky I’ve been to be accepted to work in this way since day one,” said Stella.
But even with a famous surname giving her a head start, she’s faced difficulties in terms of standing up to the status quo.
“I’ve had moments where I’ve been challenged very heavily to change my morals for the success of the company,” she remembered of an instance in which she was urged to use leather.
Her Grammy-winning father, 81, also spoke with the outlet about his children's upbringings, including their local school education. “They had to take a bit of flak for having a famous dad, but it toughened them up,” he said of his four kids with Linda.
Paul remembered Stella’s early penchant for clothing, finding her in his and Linda's closet creating outfits at a young age.
“One side was this farm life, and the other side was the stage, with glittery boots and glamour,” Stella recalled of her unique childhood. “It was an early inspiration.”
She later went on to attend Central St. Martins, a prestigious art and design college in London. “She had to prove herself,” Paul shared. “I said, if she doesn’t do well at the end of that year, then the name is not something to help, it’s a cudgel to beat her with. But she did well.”
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Stars born out of nepotism (hence the nickname “nepo”) became a hot topic on social media last year, with many speaking out on how they felt about the title and its greater meaning.
Jamie Lee Curtis weighed in on the conversation this past December.
The Everything Everywhere All at Once star shared a photo of her famous folks Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh on Instagram and opened up about the discourse in her caption.
“I have been a professional actress since I was 19 years old so that makes me an OG Nepo Baby," Curtis began, adding that “there's not a day in my professional life that goes by without my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars."
She continued: "The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”
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Shortly after, Hailey Bieber stepped out in a “nepo baby” T-shirt to ackowledge her Baldwin roots (the Rhode skincare founder is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin).
“My point to having worn the T-shirt was not to poke fun at it or be like, ‘Yeah I’m a nepo baby haha,’ type of a thing,” the model told The Circuit, “It was more so to be like, 'This is what everyone is saying and I want you to know that this is my way of responding to it.' ”
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