Fashion worker, 31, who fell through the floor at Stella McCartney’s Italian showroom in accident which ‘left her unable to wear high heels’ is suing the label for up to £100,000

• Chloe Mickelborough, 31, broke her foot after the fall at the base in Milan 

A fashion worker who says she has been left unable to wear high-heels after breaking her foot falling through the floor at Stella McCartney’s Italian showroom is suing the star’s label for up to £100,000.

Chloe Mickelborough, 31, was working on an advertising shoot at the designer’s base in Milan in 2018 when she crashed through a ‘walkway’ and fell to a lower floor.

Social media content creator Miss Mickelborough broke her heel in the fall, leaving her with ongoing pain and swelling in her foot, which she says prevents her wearing fashionable shoes.

She is now suing for up to £100,000 compensation over the accident, which she says has left her stuck wearing ‘supportive’ trainers, unable to dance or go running and restricted to office based employment. 

Ms McCartney’s company is contesting the claim, blaming Miss Mickelborough as the ‘sole author of her misfortune’ and saying the area into which she climbed was not part of the ‘walkway’ at all.

The designer’s lawyer said: ‘It is denied that it would have been reasonable for anybody to perceive the surface covered with opaque corrugated plastic within the area behind the railing as ‘the flooring’.’

A trial of the case due to be heard at Central London County Court at a later date.

Chloe Mickelborough, 31, was working on an advertising shoot at the designer’s base in Milan in 2018 when she crashed through a ‘walkway’ and fell to a lower floor

Social media content creator Miss Mickelborough says her injuries prevent her wearing fashionable shoes

Miss Mickelborough suffered her injury at the company’s showroom in Via Vincenzo Forcella, Milan

Stella McCartney Ltd is the company through which Ms Mcartney, 52, – daughter of Beatle Paul and his late wife Linda – conducts her business as a fashion designer, running stores in Manhattan, Mayfair, Paris and Rome, among others.

The label is popular with celebrities, including Melania Trump, Beyoncé and the wife of actor George Clooney, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, turning over £32.5m in recent annual accounts.

Miss Mickelborough was working for the company, curating its social media content, when she suffered her injury at its showroom in Via Vincenzo Forcella, Milan, in June 2018.

She was due to film an interview between the label’s senior executives Andrew Dershaw and Ida Simonsen as part of an advertising campaign for its Stella’s World clothing range.

According to documents filed at the court, Miss Mickelborough was planning to film the interview on a second floor ‘walkway’ as it provided an attractive backdrop.

The walkway was divided into two sections, with a ‘closed area’ enclosed by a railing, says her barrister, Michael Patrick, in her particulars of claim.

She is now suing for up to £100,000 compensation over the accident

She has been left with symptoms of post-traumatic arthritis in her damaged joints and continues to have ‘pain, stiffness and swelling in her left foot’

Stella McCartney Ltd’s barrister Nadia Whittaker says Miss Mickelborough was the ‘sole author of her misfortune’ (pictured is Stella McCartney celebrating the Frieze Art Fair on October 12)

‘The closed area contained flooring which, to an ordinary reasonable person, appeared safe, stable and conventional,’ he says.

‘The walkway contained no signs warning of any danger, or which otherwise explained the railing’s presence.

‘Unbeknownst to the claimant, the flooring in the closed area could not support her weight.

‘Accordingly, that flooring immediately gave way and the claimant fell through to the first floor below, thereby suffering personal injury.’

Miss Mickelborough suffered a fracture to her left heel, which required surgery and a further operation two years later to repair a broken screw and released toe tendons.

However, she has been left with symptoms of post-traumatic arthritis in her damaged joints and continues to have ‘pain, stiffness and swelling in her left foot.’

‘She can only wear supportive trainers, as opposed to more fashionable or high-heeled footwear, and is restricted to sedentary, office-based forms of employment,’ he continues.

‘The claimant can only walk around for around an hour before her pain levels increase.

‘Since the accident, the clamant has given up dancing and has further had to modify her gym activity.

‘Specifically, she has given up running and has stopped going to specific gym classes.’

He said her symptoms were likely to deteriorate over time.

Blaming Ms McCartney’s company, he claims that it failed to provide a safe workplace for Miss Mickelborough.

‘The walkway itself was dangerous, in that the flooring of the closed area could not withstand the claimant’s weight, or indeed any person’s weight,’ he says.

‘The claimant was not warned of that specific danger, whether adequately or at all.

‘The mere presence of the railing did not, in itself, disclose or indicate that the flooring was dangerous.

‘Indeed, the railing could merely have indicated for instance that the closed area was meant to be kept free as a storage area, or something else similarly benign.’

Miss Mickelborough (pictured) had ‘disregarded an obvious obstacle’ in climbing over the fence and, in doing so, ‘failed to take any reasonable care for her own safety,’ Stella McCartney Ltd’s barrister said

In its defence to the claim, Stella McCartney Ltd’s barrister Nadia Whittaker says Miss Mickelborough was the ‘sole author of her misfortune,’ having climbed a railing to get into an unsafe, unauthorised area.

She says the area into which she climbed was not part of the ‘walkway’ at all, while the corrugated plastic she fell through was not actually a ‘floor..’

‘It was an area that was clearly not designed and/or equipped for anyone to enter, hence the presence of a continuous railing to deter any reasonable person from doing so, either intentionally or inadvertently,’ she says.

‘It is denied that it would have been reasonable for anybody to perceive the surface covered with opaque corrugated plastic within the area behind the railing as ‘the flooring’.

‘It is further denied that the said surface covered with opaque corrugated plastic was capable of being reasonably perceived as ‘safe, stable and/or conventional’.’

Miss Mickelborough had ‘disregarded an obvious obstacle’ in climbing over the fence and, in doing so, ‘failed to take any reasonable care for her own safety,’ she says.

‘It is denied that an ordinary reasonable person exercising reasonable care would not have realised that the surface of corrugated plastic would not be capable to withstand the weight of a person,’ she says.

‘It is therefore denied that the mere fact that the area was obviously dangerous amounted to a breach of duty.’

Fashion designer Ms McCartney was interested in fashion from a young age, designing her first jacket at 13 and taking her first job in the industry at 16.

She launched her fashion house in 2001 in a joint venture with Gucci and presented her first collection in Paris, going on to open more than 50 stores worldwide.

The case reached court last week for a preliminary hearing ahead of a full trial of the claim at a later date.

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