Stella McCartney's controversial fashion shoot was tribute to her mum

REVEALED: Stella McCartney’s controversial fashion shoot was tribute to her horse loving mum

• Kendall Jenner posed naked on a horse, drawing fire from animal rights activists 

Stella McCartney has hit back at critics of a fashion shoot featuring model Kendall Jenner naked on a horse, telling friends the ad campaign was a tribute to her mother, Linda, who loved horses.

Animal rights campaigners complained that her multi-million-pound Horse Power ads exploited the animals. But the horse’s owner told The Mail on Sunday last night that Ms McCartney ‘put the horses first’ during the fashion shoot.

A source close to the designer said she was stung by the criticism from activists.

‘The collection was initially inspired by Stella’s late mother, Linda, who was a lifelong horse lover and introduced Stella and her siblings to caring for these animals,’ the source revealed. The horses used in the ads were Spanish pure-bloods, known as Andalusians, which bear a striking resemblance to Appaloosas, the US breed her mother loved.

Their French owner, Jean-Francois Pignon, told the MoS how he supplied seven horses for the shoot at the Camargue salt flats in the south of France this summer.

Ms Jenner, 27, was seen reclining on the back of Xena, 10, which Mr Pignon said had been raised ‘free and wild’ and had never worn a bridle or saddle or been trained.

Stella McCartney has hit back at critics of a fashion shoot featuring model Kendall Jenner naked on a horse (pictured), telling friends the ad campaign was a tribute to her mother, Linda, who loved horses 

The horses used in the ads were Spanish pure-bloods, known as Andalusians, which bear a striking resemblance to Appaloosas, the US breed her mother loved. Pictured: Linda McCartney on an Appaloosa

Mr Pignon, who worked with the late Queen Elizabeth’s horses, said: ‘My horses respond to love and respect. Stella put the horses first. She and Kendall were empathetic and I could tell they both felt very comfortable around them. When I asked for a break to feed or water them, Stella immediately agreed. No animal was exploited or harmed. It was a peaceful and harmonious shoot where the horses were number one.’

READ MORE: Stella McCartney’s fashion shoot featuring a naked Kendall Jenner lying on a horse is accused of being ‘exploitative’ to animals

Ms McCartney’s Winter 2023 collection – touted as ‘exploring the healing bond between humans and horses’ – features items named after Appaloosas including the $1,895 (€1,755) Ryder Appaloosa Print Velvet Above-the-Knee stiletto boots and a $1,225 (€1,135) Falabella Appaloosa print velvet tote bag, both in the photo above.

Ms McCartney, 51, says it was inspired by the ‘love between mothers, daughters, sisters, nature, humans and animals’. She used vegan materials, including ‘leather’ made from grape waste.

In other images from the ad campaign released this week, Ms Jenner, who lives on a 50-acre horse ranch near Los Angeles, wears an all-red ensemble as white horses encircle her.

Ms McCartney said she chose the model ‘because this season’s Stella girl had to love horses as much as I do’, adding: ‘Kendall has been riding since she was a kid. You can see how at ease she is around these sensitive creatures.’

The horse’s owner told The Mail on Sunday last night that Ms McCartney ‘put the horses first’ during the fashion shoot

In other images from the ad campaign released this week, Ms Jenner, who lives on a 50-acre horse ranch near Los Angeles, wears an all-red ensemble as white horses encircle her

 Kendall Jenner on a white horse. Ms McCartney wrote on Instagram: ‘A celebration of the timeless healing relationships between humans and horses. It is a collection of what Stella loves, crafted from 92 per cent responsible materials’

Her parents, Paul and Linda McCartney, raised Appaloosas at their farms in Sussex and Scotland. After she died at 56 in 1998, Paul revealed his final words to her were: ‘You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day, we’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out and the sky is clear blue.’

He added: ‘I had barely got to the end of the sentence when she closed her eyes and gently slipped away.’

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