For her first show since buying out her minority investor LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Stella McCartney’s longtime friends made a strong show of support in the front row.
LVMH director of image and environment Antoine Arnault sat alongside French First Lady Brigitte Macron in the front row. They were flanked by Tom Ford and Cameron Diaz, longtime friends of McCartney’s.
She also brought out the best of British acting, with Richard E. Grant and Olivia Colman.
Grant said he has known her for 30 years, since she was 24 years old and a recent graduate from Central Saint Martins.
“I think to have survived for three decades in any business, either show business or the fashion business — isn’t that spectacular?” he said.
“It was just her passion since she was a girl, she started cutting clothes,” he said. “If you follow the thing that you’ve always wanted to do as a child, almost as your hobby beyond your profession is the greatest chance of finding happiness in your life.”
Grant recently appeared in a Burberry campaign and walked in the brand’s runway show.
“I think I was the oldest male on the catwalk. That’s probably why I’ve been invited to be here today,” he said of his modeling skills. “It was an amazing, amazing experience. You don’t have to learn any lines. You just have to walk and don’t fall over. So it’s a win-win.”
He will fly to New York on Thursday for the press junket for “Death of a Unicorn,” costarring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega. Even though it opens next month, Grant would give little away about the plot. “It’s about the death of a unicorn. The title says it all.”
“Well, I’m here for the Tom Ford show this afternoon, and Stella’s one of my dearest friends and one of the godparents of my son, and how could I miss Stella’s show? So here I am,” Ford said.
Asked if he had any advice for McCartney, who recently bought back a minority stake in her business from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, he said: “I talk to Stella all the time. I think she’s doing well. I think the advice when you take back your own business is to watch the numbers. Watch the money.”
Colman is a new friend and longtime fan. She came to support McCartney, who helped her gain her confidence on the red carpet when she attended the Venice Film Festival in 2019.
“The first time I felt powerful on the red carpet was wearing a Stella,” she said. “It’s comfy, it’s sexy. She’s got the comfort of women at heart, and that’s important.”
“This should happen more in the office. There should be more people standing on the desks,” she joked.
The Oscar winner was taking in the pre-show performance piece. McCartney held her show in an office building on the outskirts of Paris, and models in business suits danced on desks and answered phones in a performance piece straight out of an ‘80s commercial.
Pole dancers closed the show to a thumping soundtrack admonishing them to “work, work, work.”
Diaz, who was spending a few days in Paris before the show, lost her voice during her travels. She whispered trying to chat with Ford and Kate Moss, but gamely posed for pics in her cherry red dress. Asked after the show what look she liked best, she whispered that she took pictures and gestured at a snap, while Ice Spice and Paris Jackson also made their way backstage.
— With contributions from Joelle Diderich
