Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Stella McCartney’s Earliest, Raunchiest Designs Are Coming Back

Stella McCartney’s Earliest, Raunchiest Designs Are Coming Back

Bella Hadid will agree.

The late ‘90s, rolling into the early ‘00s, is the fashion era I love most. It’s like minimalism got tipsy and started experimenting with mega-watt maximalism. It’s a chic whisper of a rhinestone, rather than the glitter that blinded the early aughts. Those years are best embodied by Stella McCartney at Chloé, who helmed the label from 1997 until 2001. And for quite some time, I’ve been steadily collecting her designs from her tenure at the French house. My closet is filled with those epic fruit T-shirts: bananas shaped as creepy-freaky hands cupping boobs; a big pineapple in the center of the chest. I have a spicy, off-the-shoulder “69” top that creeps a little above my belly button whenever I’m out. I have a slew of the zodiac T-shirts: Taurus because that’s what I am...but also Sagittarius and Aquarius, which I’m not. I just really like the look of them. Whenever I wear any of these shirts, I feel like a walking wink. I’m just a girl who wants to have fun and look good while doing it.



And girls really do just want to have fun, which is why I’m not shocked that Bella Hadid stepped out in a Stella-era Chloé top yesterday. She was spotted strolling in a long-sleeve top with fuzzy letters spelling out “Chloé” trailing down the side. The model paired the top with a pair of low-slung denim jeans. While the shirt is simple, it signifies a shift in covetable vintage.



Gone are the days of uber-rare Jean Paul Gaultier mesh shirts or a Dior saddlebag as the ultimate conversation starter. We’ve seen so many of those sought-after, logomania-heavy designs that it feels tired. There’s not much to talk about anymore! The curiosity is gone thanks to feed ubiquity and fat price tags. Instead, people are looking for slept-on eras of fashion (of course, it still runs the risk of becoming oversaturated, as is the cycle). Hadid is one of them. Just a few weeks ago, she wore a Celine tank top from the uber-luxe, but very quiet, time when Michael Kors was at the helm.



McCartney’s moment at Chloé feels like what we need right now. Women want to look hot. Fresh. Belly-baring and shoulder-showing. McCartney injected that elevated raunch into the French house that had been long known for flouncy romance and femininity. McCartney produced a lot of see-through gold chain tank tops, skimpy halter tops, and pants so tight that you just want to peel them off and so low-slung you’d need laser hair removal. And as a bonus, it has a subtle sort of fashion cred. If you know, you know.

The want for Stella’s Chloé and that fun-bitch attitude that comes with it seems to be on the rise. Vintage dealer Olivia Haroutounian, who has a full Gen-Z following on TikTok, says, “People go crazy for the Stella pieces, especially the T-shirts.” Collin James Weber and Brandon Veloria Giordano of the downtown-beloved vintage store James Veloria agree. (Full disclosure: I bought a graphic island Stella-era Chloé tank top from them). “People are looking to her because it was so fun and sexy and the epitome of early 2000s rich bitch chic,” says Giordano.



During her time at Chloé, McCartney seemed to be having a ball of social life, which is reflected in those designs. She was in her early 20s, just barely out of Central Saint Martins, when she was photographed cavorting around London with the likes of Phoebe Philo (who later took over as creative director at Chloé), Kate Moss, and Sadie Frost. Her insouciance was evident in her Met Gala look from 1999, when she and Liv Tyler attended together in tank tops that she bought the night before and bedazzled to read “Rock Royalty.” (McCartney also wore her own Chloé trousers that showed a healthy amount of hip). She is sort of the girl that seems like a dream to hang out with.



In a profile in the 2000 July issue of Vogue, writer Jonathan van Meter describes her as follows: “Stella McCartney is not obnoxious; she’s just young and sometimes naughty, a girl who loves to make a little trouble, get a rise, stir things up. She smokes and drinks and sits with her legs apart. She wears ratty old Levi's with wickedly expensive heels. She can be both loudly, hilariously funny and girlishly whisper-quiet. And when something is said that she finds particularly thrilling, she yells, Austin Powers-like, “Yeeeah, baaby!” If I can’t hang out with this girl, I might as well wear the clothes.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
×