Why Oprah Winfrey Was At Stella McCartney's AW19 Show

Stella McCartney and Oprah Winfrey have been acquaintances for some time. “I f*cking worship her!” the designer told Vogue of dressing the media icon for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding in May 2018. Winfrey, it transpired, had come to McCartney with a piece of her knitwear and asked her to make something similar. “That’s what we do at the house of Stella McCartney, we design clothes that women choose to wear, as opposed to letting the clothes wear them,” McCartney added of the personal commission.

And so, when it came to pledging support for McCartney's latest philanthropic project, her friend was happy to oblige. Sitting front row at the Stella McCartney autumn/winter 2019 show next to Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, Karlie Kloss and McCartney's husband Alasdhair Willis, Winfrey spread thes message of McCartney's “There She Grows” campaign. The newly launched social media initiative strives to protect the Leuser Ecosystem, an area of tropical rain forest in Sumatra, Indonesia, by asking people to dedicate a tree and a message to someone, and then nominating another person to do the same. Funds are channelled into the non-profit organisation Canopy, which protects endangered forests, and the Stella McCartney Cares Foundation, which aims to support aid efforts around the ecosystem.

McCartney kicked off proceedings by dedicating a tree to her mother Linda and nominating Gwyneth Paltrow to spread the message last week. The #thereshegrows page on Instagram was soon populated with videos from Drew Barrymore, Selma Blair, Pink, Justin Timberlake and Kris Jenner as the campaign gathered pace.

“Our planet needs us, we need it, and we can have a bit of fun in the process,” McCartney told WWD of the project, before going on to describe her autumn/winter 2019 show as the culmination of her charity drive and “sustainable fashion to celebrate one voice and one love.” Winfrey, one of the most powerful people on the planet, couldn't have been a wiser appointment as ambassador – but the question is, who will she nominate?