Stella McCartney Delivers 2016 Kering Talk On Deforestation & Sustainable Viscose

Salma Hayek supported good friend Stella McCartney's 2016 Kering Talk Monday evening at the London College of Fashion. Her nature-inspired print dress came from McCartney's vegetarian fashion collection. Hayek's husband, Francois-Henri Pinault, the Kering CEO, attended as well.

The focus of Stella's talk was the issue of deforestation and sustainable sourcing of viscose, one of the most used fabrics in the global fashion industry. 

The Stella McCartney lifestyle brand was launched in partnership with Kering in 2001. Fifteen years later, the designer is the luxury industry's most consistent voice for animal and environmental welfare and sustainable design. Materials like organic cotton and recycled cashmere are fundamental to the brand. 

When McCartney first launched her label she was “ridiculed” for banning leather and fur from her collections. “I was told definitely I would not have a business, I wouldn’t have an accessories business…by people I worked with, that I looked up to." But as luxury consumers have become more conscious of the impact of their consumption decisions on the planet's health, Stella McCartney sales have risen annually in the "double digits . . . for a while now."

“Fashion is one of the most harmful industries on the planet, and I think people are a little more aware of that now,” Stella said in her Kering Talk. While she says she doesn't want to preach, McCartney didn't hesitate to call out her parent company. “I’m sure [Kering] will give up python farms very soon,” she said wishfully. She was especially adamant that fashion companies trade out real fur for faux: “You really can’t tell the difference. There’s no reason to kill 15 million innocent creatures.”

Nicole Kidman Is Full Throttle Sumptuous In Yu Tsai Images For Flaunt Magazine

Nicole Kidman Is Full Throttle Sumptuous In Yu Tsai Images For Flaunt Magazine

Kidman is currently starring in 'Lion', a true story inspired by Sue Brierly, who adopted Saroo Brierly., living in an Indian orphanage. 

As an adult, Saroo Brierley, now an Australian citizen uses Google Earth to find the family that he was separated from in India. Sunny Pawar commands the screen for much of the film’s first hour, playing Saroo as a 5-year-old lost on the streets of Calcutta. It marks his first screen role, one that’s already earned him raves. Variety critic Peter Debruge wrote that Pawar is “so adorable he could set off an Indian adoption craze.”

Priyanka Bose and Dev Patel join Kidman and Pawar in the cast.