Stella McCartney has long held the torch for the ethical treatment of animals in fashion and food . The fashion designer uses no animal products in her designs and has been a vegetarian since childhood , a lifestyle that was championed by her mother Linda and father Paul . But the 43-year-old is now calling on fellow consumers to pay more attention to what goes into their meals and garments - by thinking about that final product came from . Stella McCartney attends an event to honour Kate Moss last April . The designer is calling on consumers to be more aware of where their food and fashion comes from . In a new interview with The Business Of Fashion ( BoF ) magazine , she said : 'The consumption of animals - whether you 're wearing them or eating them - is extraordinarily damaging to the planet . 'There are over a billion animals killed a year for food , half of which do n't even get eaten . And there 's over 50 million animals killed just for fashion . ' 'If you 're mindful of how you 're approaching your life , then you see the connection . You ca n't avoid the connection . 'The connection between food , illness , environment . I want to see everything as a whole , so that 's how I approach life , and that 's how it comes into my business . ' At the start of her fashion career , many criticised Stella - who helped kick off the vegetarian movement Meat Free Mondays with her father - for her refusal to produce and clothes with leather , fur or feathers . But while the mother-of-four is something of a pioneer in ethical high fashion , she concedes that finding high-quality substitutes is a challenge . Stella and her father Paul following the Stella McCartney Green Carpet Collection during London Fashion Week in September 2014 . ‘ Material is hard , ' she said : . ‘ Clearly leather is a great material . It wears well . It moves . You can wash it . It ’ s real . One of the hardest things is to design something that is desirable and then to take that design and make it in a way that is not conventional . 'We ’ re sourcing our own material , developing our own material - we ’ re not using PVC. ’ And , ahead of a lecture she is holding with the magazine tonight in London , Stella said she even feels the need to apologise to her designers for the limitations of using non-leather alternatives . Stella McCartney talks with BOF founder and Editor in Chief , Imran Amed about sustainability in fashion at the sold-out launch of BOF Voices at Second Home in London at 7pm tonight . Stella McCartney is the cover girl oon the new issue of BOF magazine .
Stella McCartney , last April , has been a vegetarian since she was a child . The fashion designer does n't use fur , leather or feathers in any her clothes . Her label has developed ethical non-PVC leather alternatives .