POP: Grimes And Stella McCartney Team Up For Sustainability

We're naturally big fans of Stella McCartney here at The Pier. She's one of the big voices calling out for sustainable fashion, and she walks it like she talks it. Her clothes have taken the lead in ethical sourcing with a clear sense of mission and forward thinking. She's a bit of a hero round these parts.

Like every other big-name fashion designer, Stella also has a range of perfumes. With the launch of her latest scent, POP (yes, it's all caps), she's amping up the sustainability message, with the clever use of a very unexpected face to showcase the brand.

It would be easy to get a music star on board to promote POP–the clue is in the name, after all. But instead of a boring mainstream choice, Stella has chosen to work with Claire Boucher, the edgy electronic artist better known as Grimes. Claire's latest album, Art Angel, has been lauded as one of the best releases of last year by many music journos, and she's become a pretty big name in the charts.

Grimes shares a lot of Stella's values. She's vocal on environmental issues and animal rights, supporting causes like The National Observer, a magazine that reports on the environment for whom she auctioned off artwork last year. The pairing of Stella and Grimes is a natural fit, and the just-released advert for POP makes the chemistry obvious.

The connection goes deeper, as in the ad Grimes explicitly talks about sustainability in fashion. It's a clever move, slipped into an advert that could otherwise have been a generic perfume promo aimed at young women. But the clues are there throughout. Stella has said of POP:

“POP is a spirit. It’s about capturing and celebrating that very special and exciting time when you are finding yourself and coming into your own. It’s about freedom, and starting your life away from judgments or labels.”

By choosing Grimes to front the campaign, Stella is making a sharp point about the fashion industry in which she is trying to make changes. It's not agit-prop by any means, but the message couldn't be clearer–sustainable fashion is a cool, smart choice for free-thinking girls.

Check out the ad below. POP is available wherever perfume is sold.

 And while we're at it, let's have a little something from Grimes' day job.