Behind the Blurry Lens of Shot by Stella
Ditching the studio setup, the designer picked up a camera to continue her family’s photography legacy.
The connection between a mother and a daughter, especially when it comes to passing down a specific love or a hobby, is at the very heart of Stella McCartney’s Autumn 2026 collection.
Growing up surrounded by the iconic work of her late mother and photographer Linda McCartney, and alongside her sister Mary, Stella inherited an instinctive eye for telling stories through a lens. She’s taken the camera into her own hands to shoot Shot by Stella, a behind-the-scenes visual diary.
The result lets us look at the clothes through McCartney’s own eyes, feeling like an intimate photo album. In the shots, models peer out from behind stray leaves with barely any makeup on, making it look incredibly natural. Soft, quiet shadows paint their skin, giving the impression that they were just standing near a window. The frames are loose, where one is completely blurry, catching nothing but a quick, abstract flash of a green leaf and a peek of a pink dress.
As for the clothes themselves, the pictures show dresses that are mostly one solid colour and very flowy. The palette leans heavily into a clean, minimalist mix of blacks, whites, creams, and a casual greyish tone. But right in the middle of all those neutrals, McCartney throws in a single, bright pop of pink. By documenting everything from the tailoring and accessories to the in-between moments on set, the series focuses on the details that usually get left unseen.
Credits:
Images courtesy of Stella McCartney
Words: Roisin Teeling @roisinteeling
StelaMcCartney.com
