Stars turn out for Stella McCartney's bid to save rainforest

Stella McCartney showed what can be done with upcycled clothes and fabrics in a classy Paris show whose front row was filled with celebrity fans led by Oprah Winfrey.

The British designer -- a vegan who used the show to launch a #ThereSheGrows Instagram campaign to save the Sumatran rainforest -- edged her big belted opening space samurai coat with her shiny "vegetarian leather", a trick she repeated with some style throughout the collection.

In a week when the Paris shows have been more attuned to what women actually wear than usual, McCartney used vintage fabric in a whole swathe of highly desirable dresses, although it was impossible to say what was new and what was not.

One multi-coloured statement cord dress was made from vintage T-shirts that were stripped, knotted and then knitted.

The co-ed show also featured big burgundy fake fur coats worn with sawn-off wellington boots from the British brand Hunter, which McCartney claimed were the most sustainable rubber wellies ever made.

The designer daughter of Beatle Paul McCartney told reporters backstage that the English Northern Soul music and dance movement from the late 1960s was also an inspiration for the show.

'I worship her'

Winfrey told reporters she "loved the show and totally supported" the campaign to save the Leuser Ecosystem in Indonesia, one of the richest in the world where orangutans and the Sumatran elephant, rhinoceros and tiger are threatened by palm oil plantations.

The US television star made the trip specially to support McCartney's campaign, having last year admitted that "I worship her".

Supermodel Karlie Kloss was also there to lend her backing.

The designer also roped in the veteran American artist Sheila Hicks, draping several of her looks in her woven "twisted and wrapped adornments... so they could be worn like badges of honour for valour and bravery.

"These adnornments act as wearable works of art," McCartney added.

As well as the slinky ethnic-tinted glamour, she put 17-year-old catwalk star Kaia Gerber -- the daughter of Cindy Crawford -- in one of her new trenchcoat jumpsuits aimed at "empowering men and women to look and feel their best".(AFP)

Photos: Stella McCartney AW19, Catwalkpictures