Stella McCartney quotes:

Depending on the season, between 20 and 30 percent of my collections contain some sort of eco or sustainable element, whether it's a beautiful organic fabric or a natural dye. And obviously I don't use animal skins or fur of any kind.

I am a fashion designer. I'm not an environmentalist. When I get up in the morning, number one I'm a mother and a wife, and number two I design clothes. So the main thing I need to do is create, hopefully, exquisitely beautiful, desirable objects for my customer.

The really great thing about my shop is that there's not one dead animal in it. ... Manolo's got a load of fabric shoes as well! We use plastic, fabric, rubber- anything but leather. I almost feel like I've been put here to show everyone that it's unnecessary.

Everyone can do simple things to make a difference, and every little bit really does count.

I think the moment that I'm very proud of is building a business without using animals. And, hopefully, changing people's perception of how you can do luxury fashion.

I personally love sportswear, and love using it in high fashion.

The beliefs I was raised with - to respect animals and to be aware of nature, to understand that we share this planet with other creatures - have had a huge impact on me.

We always had our own vegetables growing up and now I'm doing it with my kids at our house in the country.

Most male painters have historically admired the female form. It's got a lot going for it.

I didn't want to be thirtysomething and not know what I was going to do. I was quite afraid of that, there were quite a lot of aimless kids around, in that 'other' side of my life, who didn't really know what to do because they always had a bank balance to fall back on and they were quite lost.

I literally have meetings at eight o'clock in the morning, and I finish at nine o'clock at night. It sounds pathetic, but I don't even have time to go shopping.

I loved all those Doris Day visuals of her being a tomboy and then changing into this gorgeous girl in a ballgown.

Now, get out there and kick ass!

For me, singing is the most natural thing in the world. I've grown up with it and I know I've got that gift.

I used to get embarrassed about the fact I liked fashion. I still get a bit cringy.

I feel like a different person since my mum passed away, like I'm driving a ship with my husband alongside me and we're leading these four children into unknown waters.

It's immoral that people make money out of writing crap, but I try not to obsess about it. I don't want to spend my life being angry.

If you try to create something people enjoy, and it happens to be made in a responsible way, then that's when you can really strike an incredible balance.

My biggest surprises in my everyday job have to do with the challenges of trying to be slightly more responsible as a brand.

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 don't even get eaten. And there's over 50 million animals killed just for fashion.

I think deep down I'm spiritual, but there's nothing I practice.

You have to be hopeful that people will be more educated in how they buy things, and hopefully more luxury brands will start to think that way on a longer-term basis.

Being effortless is the coolest thing in the world

When you think of fashion photography, it's a dream. It's like we all want to be those women. We want to wear those dresses.

People think I'm strong, but actually I wanted to crawl away. I thought, I'm going to live in the country with my horse and I'll get a nine-to-five; I don't need this.

I ride my bike, I work out, I do a bit of, er, dancey things.

I confess to being a frustrated musician.

I don't plan massively in advance.

I was brought up to understand that we are all here on planet earth together.

There's no excuse for fur in this day and age.

More than anything I want to be fit so I don't get out of breath when I play football with the kids.

Losing my mum. That was a punch-me moment.

A little black dress is something to rely on. To fill you with confidence and ease. To have an attitude that is pure and effortless, yet sexy and classy.

As a designer, I like to work with fabrics that don't bleed; that's why I avoid all animal skins.

At the end of the day I separate things; my life is my life and my work is my work.

At times I make music, but in private.

For me, women's ski wear has always been black and, again, not as feminine or sexy as I think it could look while still having the technology there.

I can honestly say this industry hasn't made me neurotic about my looks, except maybe my weight. I hope my clothes kind of reflect that. They're meant to make you feel good.

I don't use specific brands really. It's just that for my skin, I need as high an SPF factor as I can get my hands on. That's the only rule.

I get a real kick out of it, seeing people wear my designs.

I love that you can have the language between the two worlds of technology and fashion, because I don't think that many designers get to do that.

I never wanted to make it too easy for people to sum me up.

I run a lot. If I don't have time to go to the gym or don't have time to work out properly, I will go for a quick run. I think running is a great way to stay fit, and I really concentrate on fitting into a realistic urban lifestyle.

I think it took me a little while to be true to myself as a designer, and in some ways I'm still trying to do that. I have to choose things that come naturally to me. Whenever I challenge something too much or try too hard, it never quite works out.

I think it's very wrong to have the mass murder, every single day, of millions of animals.

I think my mum was really very ahead of her time. She wore very little makeup. She really explored the way that she wore clothes in a very honest way. She wore a lot of vintage stuff and mixed it with bespoke men's tailoring and things like that. That was a huge influence on me, seeing a woman in the spotlight carry herself in that kind of way. But mostly, for me, it was just that she was an incredibly honest and sort of natural person.

I think personal style starts from within because it´s a philosophy and an attitude. If you´re honest and true to yourself, you will have the best sense of personal style.

I wanted to feel good about the way I looked. I didn't understand why style had to be sacrificed for sports technology. I found when going to the gym women were wearing their own tees, without the technology. I started to think, does it make you run faster if you wear that terrible color or sweat less if you wear that horrible fabric? And I challenged it, and the answers were not there to why we were being given poor design work. It was something I wanted to bring to women's wardrobes.

I was first drawn to active wear because I enjoy working out, and it's very important in this day in age. I really felt women were getting the tail end of the design in active wear; not getting the technology or design we deserved. It was reserved for men. We were getting the leftover work from the sports design houses.

I´m a real believer that just doing a little something is a lot better than doing a lot of nothing.

I'd rather people turn up than not. And of course I'd rather have people be enthusiastic.

If people stop liking my clothes, I'll make a record.

I'm not offended or embarrassed by the fact that I design clothes for women to wear. So when I meet women who love my clothes, it's a really good, straightforward thing. It makes me feel like I'm doing my job right.

It's incredibly important that if you have the dream of having your own house, you don't pretend to be something you're not. Ultimately, it's unsustainable and people will see through. You have to work; you can't expect your dreams to be handed to you on a plate.

It's not about what it looks like in the studio or on the runway. It's what it looks like on a real person that matters.

It's not realistic to live in the country at this stage. I've got a business in London. I beat myself up about it all the time.

Laugh my friend, for laughter ignites a fire within the pit of your belly and awakens your being.

My mum taught me to have a soul.

People work better when they are afforded to be themselves

Running is a huge category for us. To be able to run to work and have lightweight, breathable, windproof materials you can chuck in your bag that work on technical level but also on a lifestyle level are really important to me. I work out - and I think most people do - and I want to encourage women and inspire them in a way that fits in with their lifestyle.

Someone from Manolo Blahnik went into my shop and said: 'These shoes are not vegetarian.' That's the highest compliment, because you just can't tell that they are, and they are. My mum taught me to have a soul.

Sometimes I wish I were less sensible.

Strength on its own in a woman is quite abrasive and not terribly attractive all the time,

Success financially is a measure of creative success, it is the same in all arts.

The main challenge is technology and that's something I really push and work closely with Adidas on. They're real leaders in sports performance; always trying to push that further and further and get the best technology they can. That takes time and has rigorous testing, it's very laborious, but it's also very rewarding. You get to work with fantastic athletes, and that's a fantastic thing that has nothing to do with my day job in ready-to-wear.

The main thing I need to do is create, hopefully, exquisitely beautiful, desirable objects for my customer

The really great thing about my shoe store is that there's not one dead animal in it.

There's nothing fashionable about a dead animal that has been cruelly killed just because some people think it looks cool to wear.

We try to make earth-friendly decisions whenever we can, as it's part of our brand DNA.

Whether you eat meat of not, you can be part of this decision to limit the meat industry destroying our planet's resources.

You feel like everyone hates you if you've got a good life, now I feel maybe it's allowed because I've had my share of sadness.

You want to be confident when you work out because it takes a lot to make you work out. So many women really enjoy it, but it's a hard thing and you have to make yourself do it most of the time. I think you want to feel that you look good to make you want to work out a little bit more.