Model Stella Maxwell Designs Bag for The Kooples

“Throughout the years I’ve been working as a model, I’ve gathered lots of information on the process of creating fashion without even trying,” New Zealander Stella Maxwell, 28, tells Vogue. French fashion retailer The Kooples must have sensed the inner design talent brimming inside her, and accordingly, asked Maxwell to create a handbag to accompany the brand’s autumn/winter 2018 collection.

Maxwell jumped at the chance to take the baton from Emily Ratajkowski, who was the brand’s first celebrity collaborator in 2017. This time round, however, The Kooples was looking for a couple to align with its core concept of photographing pairs of people in its wares.

When asked who she would like to share her creative license with, Maxwell could think of only one person: “Obviously Irina Shayk!”

The Stella by The Kooples taps into the Victoria’s Secret Angel’s inner rocker and the dark, hard-edged aesthetic of the brand. Created from studded soft-calfskin manufactured in Italy – “the quality was just as important as the look,” she asserts – the shoulder style with metallic clasp and chain strap comes in three sizes and multiple colourways. Maxwell, it appears, is all about options.

After the roaring success of the Emily bag, The Kooples is onto a winning formula: model mania equates to great sales.

Original article by Alice Newbold, Vogue, August 20, 2018.