Stella McCartney Delves Into Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ For New Capsule

Stella McCartney is adding some magic to her mushroom-themed spring collection with a capsule of psychedelic clothing based on Walt Disney’s 1940 musical film “Fantasia.”

The unisex collection was inspired by McCartney’s love for the film, which was radical for its time, mixing experimental visual effects with classical music by composers including Bach, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

The clothing, accessories and kidswear reference the film’s colors, characters and, of course, Mickey Mouse, who appears in many guises. Scenes drawn from the film include “Rite of Spring” and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”

McCartney told WWD that her mother, Linda, “was a huge fan of Disney, so I grew up watching ‘Fantasia.’ I loved escaping reality into this colorful and psychedelic world of magic, animals and powerful symphony music. It was ahead of the time then, and is more relevant than ever now. It felt natural to trip into ‘Stella McCartney Presents Disney Fantasia’ from our love affair with the magic of mushrooms.”

She said the capsule taps into the brand’s “ageless and youthfulness — and I’m so excited to introduce one of Disney’s most beautiful animations to a new generation through fashion.”

This is McCartney’s second collaboration with Disney following the International Women’s Day and Disneyland Paris project that saw her design a trouser suit for Minnie Mouse. It is also an extension of her spring 2022 campaign “Mushrooms Are the Future.”

For her spring 2022 collection, McCartney drew inspiration from the 2019 Netflix documentary “Fantastic Fungi,” staging her show at Espace Niemeyer in Paris, in a room that resembled the frilly underside of a champignon. The show featured synthesized music created from the sound of mushrooms living and growing.

During that show, McCartney debuted a bag made with mycelium leather courtesy of Bolt Threads, the California-based company with which she’s been working, and showed off vegan, recycled and regenerated cashmere, nylon and animal-free leather.

In the capsule, Mickey Mouse hand motifs and art from rare, 1940s posters appear across limited-edition, repurposed silks from the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Nona Source, a start-up that emerged from the group’s incubator program that makes unused luxury fabrics available to the group’s brands. Knitwear sparkles with PVC-free sequins.

The sustainable Loop sneaker showcases rainbow Mickey Mouse graphics, while the brand’s signature Elyse platforms feature Fantasia prints.

Accessories include the Falabella bag covered with rainbows and dotted with crystals, and black recycled backpacks and camera bags with contrasting white Mickey Mouse motifs.

The capsule will be released on Thursday, April 8 on the brand’s site, with prices ranging from 50 pounds to 2,500 pounds.

Fantasia is the latest in a long line of McCartney capsule collections that riff on cultural moments from the designer’s past, and music made by her father Paul McCartney and The Beatles.

Her women’s pre-fall and men’s fall 2019 collections were inspired by the 4K-digitized, re-released version of “Yellow Submarine.” She worked illustrations from that film into an embroidered jacket and whipped Pop Art portraits into intarsias on regenerated cashmere knits.

Last November, she released a “Get Back” unisex collection inspired by the Disney+ documentary directed by Peter Jackson.

That collection featured graphics and typography inspired by the band’s album covers, and psychedelic prints done by their longtime collaborators, The Fool collective, whose artwork McCartney discovered 

hanging on a wall at her father’s house.