Icons: Stella McCartney, Sweet Escape

Gorgeous and green never looked more delicious. Here, an exclusive peek at Stella McCartney’s flirty Spring 2009 collection, and a glimpse inside the mind of one of fashion’s most rocking superstars. See full gallery.

Stella McCartney was born into a household pedigree, but damned if she intended to rest on it. Instead, the 37-year-old designer extended Sir Paul’s surname into another arena of accomplishment. It has now been 13 years since McCartney segued from student to design star over the course of one runway show -- her college graduation project. From there, she hopped to Paris and onto the stewardship of Chloé, one of fashion’s most beloved brands.

Her propulsion to the top, though, did not distance McCartney from the real world that inspired her. Of the thin air she discovered when she arrived at the door of fashion’s capital, McCartney says, “It was much more stuffy in Paris 10 years ago. People were not showing T-shirts on the runway.” But they do now, and even if the average shopper has never bought a piece of McCartney’s clothing, she is probably wearing something influenced by her cocky mix of high art, street cred and “worth every penny” efficiency.

Though she received her share of flak for launching her business from such an elevated spot, the naysayers, did little to stop McCartney from committing to her sexy, modern, confident point of view. What kept her going during those years? “I knew that I could do it,” she says. “I guess I always felt that I had a valid voice in the industry.” Sure enough, McCartney synthesized style into a vocabulary the world was eager to hear. No wonder, then, that her reach extends far beyond the abbreviated strips of Fifth Avenue and Rodeo Drive. Stella thinks locally and globally, as the location of her newest Indian retail outpost attests. “I think we live in a global age where people read the same magazines and TV programs. Everyone is much more similar now, due mainly to the Internet,” says McCartney. “I would not separate India. It’s a little insulting to act as if an Indian audience is massively different from a New York audience. There is a level of sophistication all over the world.”

And that world, for all its global chic, is in trouble. Humane, environmentally-friendly business practices are a centerpiece of the McCartney mien. She nurtures sustainable resources, recycles with a passion normally reserved for painting chapel ceilings, harms no animals and has dedicated herself to the education of the caring consumer. Shopping bags from her store biodegrade within a year. These are small steps, but vital. “I think every little bit helps,” she says. In an era when every plastic bottle and Styrofoam container puts another painful dent in the planet, what can consumers do through clothing to make a difference? What is a shirt in the grand scheme? One way to start, says McCartney, “Is to be more responsible as consumers and have a little more compassion in thinking about how things get to the buyer.”

How to approach these tasks is a question to which she seeks practical, rather than philosophical solutions: “I don’t think you need to panic and be overwhelmed by all the information. To be ‘eco,’ and this responsibility lies firmly on our shoulders, there are a lot of things you can do. You can wear vintage clothing, recycle your clothing and not throw your clothes away so quickly.” McCartney also urges shoppers of every income bracket not to buy disposable fashion. “Instead of spending 50 dollars to get 50 products,” she says, “you can spend that same amount and get one.” And it would be better that the piece not be made from slaughtered cattle.

But McCartney tempers her inner eco-warrior with the soul of an artist who designs creations that make the world a more beautiful place. “I always say I’m attached to simplicity, but I am also attached to chaos,” she says of her aesthetic. “To me, it’s about a balance between the two. I am interested in finding tension between opposites. I find beauty in nature, and I find beauty in the city.”

Photo by Mary McCartney.