British designer Stella McCartney is no stranger to sustainable fashion. Since launching her eponymous clothing label over 23 years ago, she has consistently been a pioneer in ethical fashion, paving the way and advocating for animal rights and more sustainability across the fashion industry. It comes as no surprise that she teamed up with leading lab-grown diamond company VRAI to create bespoke jewellery pieces for her Met Gala guests. VRAI, a company backed by climate change activist and actor Leonardo Di Caprio, used diamonds created in its certified zero-emission foundry and recycled gold, to create one-of-a-kind looks inspired by the Met Gala Costume Institute’s Spring 2024 exhibition – ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.
VRAI Creative Director Mona Akhavi said of the collaboration, “Stella McCartney and VRAI are both passionate about advocating for sustainability leaders in this field, creating more transparency in the fashion industry. This partnership was a long time coming and this was the perfect year to team up for the Met Gala, as this is Stella McCartney’s most sustainable collection ever yet.”
Actor, activist and face of the Stella McCartney Spring/Summer 2024 campaign, Cara Delevigne wore a bespoke diamond bracelets and a custom hooded, backless bodice co-created by VRAI X Stella McCartney. Featuring over 500 carats of diamonds - the most sustainable look on the Met Gala carpet.
Ahead of her new album release, singer-songwriter FKA Twigs wore a custom delicate bodice and hot pants, hand-embroidered with matrixes of lab-grown diamonds and finished the look with an iconic Stella McCartney Falabella bag, embellished in lead-free crystals.
Marking his Met Gala debut, multiple GRAMMY-winning superstar Ed Sheeran wore a bespoke soft blue iconic Savile Row tuxedo tailoring with VRAI created diamond cufflinks and a bowtie, also encrusted with lab-grown diamonds. His wife Cherry Seaborn wore a selection of VRAI jewellery.
Stella also wore custom Savile Row tailoring over a lab-grown diamond-embroidered bodysuit, one-of-a-kind diamond-encrusted iconic Falabella bag and jewellery, co-created with VRAI using recycled solid gold and sustainably grown diamonds.
New to the world of lab-grown diamonds? Well, to break it down, every carat of VRAI created diamonds produced, saves 143 lbs of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent to recycling approximately 23 kilograms of waste instead of it going to a landfill. Still not convinced? VRAI created diamonds are cut to the top 1% in the world, using over 243 intricate steps, to cut and polish to the highest standards in the industry - which is why even the highest net-worth fine jewellery customers who would traditionally shop at heritage brands are fast turning their attention (and spending) to lab-grown diamonds. Whilst there is still some work to do with the awareness around sustainable lab-grown diamonds and their importance - moments like these prove progress is being made.
