Stella McCartney Says Happy Birthday to Elyse, Her Sustainable, Sky-High Platform Derby
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Stella McCartney is marking the 10-year anniversary of the Elyse, her distinctive platform shoe with a saw-edged sole and a glam rock vibe.
The Elyse is statement making in more ways than one. In addition to elevating the wearer to new heights, it’s also sustainable. According to the company, each pair is handcrafted in Italy using 100 percent cruelty-free materials, “and is vegan down to the glue.”
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The upper, which is modeled on a men’s Derby, is made from Alter Mat, a vegan alternative to leather, while the platform is responsibly made from FSC-certified beech wood, according to the company.
The 80mm wedge is “sturdy but lightweight,” and the shoe is finished with water-based glues, which are “intensively quality controlled.”
“I love how my Elyse shoe has evolved over the last 10 years, showing the world that no animals need to be harmed for fashion. I could not be prouder to celebrate a decade of this modern luxury icon, and hope more brands will follow in our footsteps in creating cruelty-free footwear. If we can do it, so can you,” said McCartney.
The Elyse anniversary campaign was shot at London’s Kew Gardens alongside sculptures by the British artist Marc Quinn.
Quinn’s Light into Life exhibition features larger-than-life sculptures and other artwork inspired by “sunlight and plants as the roots of life on Earth. The reflective pieces remind us that we are in nature, and at one with it,” McCartney said.
Quinn said the show is about “our connection to plants and nature. Plants came before animals and people. They cleaned the atmosphere of carbon dioxide, which enabled animals and people to appear. We are intimately connected to them.
“The artworks in the show are meditations on those connections. We are all part of nature and nature is part of us, so I can’t make art that isn’t about nature,” he said.
Since the Elyse debuted at the designer’s winter 2014 runway show, the style has made its way into the closets of McCartney customers and friends including Kendall Jenner, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Gigi Hadid, Oprah Winfrey and Viola Davis.
Most recently, McCartney collaborated with Veuve Clicquot for Elyse sandals which were made using grape-based vegan materials sourced from the champagne Maison’s harvest by-product. The wedge was fashioned from repurposed corks.
McCartney sent the Champagne waste accessories down the runway — with minimal fanfare — during her spring 2024 show during Paris Fashion Week last October, and the full collection landed on shop floors in March.
McCartney also worked the grape leather into three Frayme bags and a bottle holder containing Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label.
