Stella McCartney

(1972- )

by Beth Weiss

Stella is the daughter of Linda Eastman McCartney and Paul McCartney of the Beatles.

Stella attended London's Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design and her graduation featured supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell wearing her designer clothes down the runway. She had experience in the world of fashion well before college, however, having been an apprentice under Christian Lacroix and working on Savile Row.

Fashion apparently runs in the family, as Stella's great-grandfather owned the biggest women's clothing store in Cleaveland and later became a manufacturer.

In 1997 Chloe, a French fashion house, hired her as head designer. Many believed the appointment to be a publitity stunt, but Stella proved herself and continued to work there until 2001, when she started her own clothes brand under Gucci.

In an interview with British Glamour magazine Stella claimed her Jewish identity: "My Mum was Jewish," she says. "Maybe I'm a really bad Jew because I'm always so excited to say that I am , but I don't live and breathe the religion."