During the most recent episode of Desert Island Discs, Stella McCartney has admitted that she regrets asking her friends Kate Moss, Naomi Campell and Yasmin Le Bon to model in her Central Saint Martins degree show, because it turned it into "headline news" and inevitably overshadowed the degree shows of her peers.
"I look back on that moment and just feel a bit embarrassed that I was so naive," she disclosed.
"They were my mates and that's who I was hanging out with when I was at college - I mean, Kate was living with me for a period of time. So when it came to choosing the models for my degree show, I kind of thought I might as well ask my friends."
Especially if they just so happen to be the most successful supermodels of the day, right?
Not only did she rope in Fashion's 'It' girls to model her homemade creations, which were subsequently picked up by London boutique, Tokio, but she also had them sashay down the catwalk to a bespoke soundtrack created by her rockstar dad, Sir Paul McCartney, who was also sat in the front row along with her mum Linda McCartney.
But Stella McCartney claims that during her time as a student, she would go by a different surname to avoid the trappings of fame and judgement.
"I would always be Stella Martin at school. That was always a bit confusing for people," she recalled.
"When I started college I tried to do it under a different name. I would never tell anyone. The discovery was always a bit painful - when you could tell people in the corridor were kind of looking at you differently. It would always be a bit, 'Oh God.'"
"It's always been something I try to get my head around, this idea that people know a lot more about me than I know about them from the outset," she humbly revealed.
Although her choice of models may have helped elevate her collection initially, it's been her sharp tailoring and ethical approach to design, always using vinyl and plastic in place of leather and faux fur, that has consolidated her early gains.
Hearteningly, McCartney also revealed that nearly 80% of people working at her company are women.
"I think it was always that idea that the men in the boardroom chose the men in the design room, possibly, and maybe historically women felt comfortable with men dressing them. I think it's changed. I think women designing for women is really powerful and really important. "
We couldn't agree more.
