Dora Maar: Carolina Herrera Designer Spotlight

A social media story written for Dora Maar highlighting Carolina Herrera’s illustrious career and eponymous brand.

Originally appeared on @shopdoramaar Instagram account.

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Carolina Herrera once described her childhood to be “full of fantasy, fun” and, of course, fashion. Born into an affluent Venezuelan family, Herrera often accompanied her mother and grandmother on their trips to Paris, to have clothing made by Lanvin, Dior, Balenciaga, and others.

Constantly surrounded by beauty, Herrera quickly developed her keen eye and appreciation for color, silhouettes and craftsmanship.

In 1965, Herrera began her long tenure in fashion, working as a publicist for Emilio Pucci, a close family friend.

Herrera spent the ’70s traveling the world with her second husband, Reinaldo Herrera, and their friends, including creative and fashionable elites like Bianca Jagger, Princess Margaret and Andy Warhol.

Herrera served as Andy Warhol’s muse for a series of 1978 portraits. Today, one of the paintings hangs in her home, and a copy hangs in the CH corporate offices.

By the time she moved to New York in the 1980s, she had an established reputation as an international fashion icon, appearing on dozens of Best Dressed Lists around the world.

She quickly befriended Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland, who encouraged Herrera’s dream to start her own fashion company.

In 1981, Carolina Herrera founded her namesake brand. Her first collection debuted at New York’s Metropolitan Club, where models walked the runway in a seamless combination of glamour and youthful flare.

Herrera proved to be an innovative force in fashion, breaking rules and ushering in fresh ideas. Her styles became the pinnacle of ‘80s fashion for New York creatives, appealing to both uptown and downtown crowds.

Over the years, the brand expanded to include a diffusion line, CH Carolina Herrera, as well as a bridal line and fragrances.

Herrera’s designs proved to transcend age, personal style and events; Worn by multiple First Ladies for White House galas, and garnering the attention of up-and-coming models, actresses and celebrities through the years.

Fall 2018 was perhaps the most Herrera collection of them all, marking the designer’s last show as creative director for the brand.

The runway served as a celebration of CH’s best looks: crisp oxford shirts tucked into a rainbow of taffeta skirts, ladylike silhouettes designed in bold prints, and tailored outerwear in a multitude of vibrant hues.

Deemed the “New Era of Herrera”, Wes Gordon was named the brand’s first succeeding creative director in 2018, after Mrs. Herrera herself.

This wasn’t the end for Herrera, though. As said in an interview with the New York Times, “I am not retiring! I am moving forward”, assuming her new role as a global ambassador for the brand.

With a little over two years and 14 collections under his belt, Wes Gordon has reimagined the brand, while at the same time paying tribute to its heritage.

His most recent collection experimented with darker colors, but still offered the iconic ruffle-trimmed silhouettes and glamourous Herrera gowns.

As a substitute for the Spring ‘21 runway, Gordon and Herrera sat down to film a mini-documentary series, “The Conversation”, offering fans an intimate look into the pair’s friendship.

“Fashion is what you dream,” Gordon states at the beginning of one episode. As for the future, it can be expected the brand will continue designing with the same fantasy instilled in Herrera as a little girl growing up in Venezuela.