Carolina Herrera

When asked to describe the aesthetic of her first collection, in 1981, Carolina Herrera replied, “It’s my own style.” Decades later that description still holds true. So what is Herrera’s personal look? Refined and international, it is perhaps best described as ladylike, although tailoring plays a large role, too. “I prefer clothes that are simple, well cut, but with one major extravagance,” she told Vogue in 1987. “Something with the sleeves, with the skirt, but nothing too fussy, too flashy.” Her signature is a crisp white shirt, often turned back at the cuffs. Herrera was famous as a beauty, socialite, and constant presence on best-dressed lists long before she became a designer. Artists from Robert Mapplethorpe to Andy Warhol did her portrait. It was Diana Vreeland—the Vogue editor who dubbed the beautiful blonde Venezuelan “la bombe”—who encouraged Herrera to pursue a career in fashion. She splashed down on the design scene at the dawn of the luxury-loving ’80s with a collection of couturelike dresses with elaborate face-framing sleeve enhancements. “It was the most glamorous fashion debut in years,” the wire services reported. Herrera’s most famous client in those early days was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis—though the designer never publicized it. Her name recognition, however, did soar after she made a white organza bridal gown with shamrock appliqués for the wedding of Kennedy Onassis’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, in 1986. In more recent years, Herrera’s customers are as likely to be Oscar winners as ladies who lunch. The designer’s clothes, the actress Renée Zellweger has said, “make me feel as though I’m not trying too hard and that I’m telling the truth.” While Herrera is modest about her accomplishments, she was honored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America with a lifetime achievement award in 2008. In 2017, Herrera hired American designer Wes Gordon as a consultant, and later appointed him to creative director in 2018. Gordon brought a youthful new energy to the house codes of femininity, color, and joie de vivre, and designs both Herrera’s ready-to-wear and bridal collections.