New York Fashion Week attendees were ready for some romance on this Valentine’s Day, and Wes Gordon served it up with a healthy side of drama in his Fall/Winter 2022 collection for Carolina Herrera, which debuted in an event space near Manhattan’s Madison Square Park on Monday morning, Feb. 14.
From its brilliant color palette to the beauty of handwork and details that included long, lush trains, this was a collection roundly enjoyed by fashion fans, including at least one Oscar nominee.
“These clothes are what dreams are made of,” enthused Ariana DeBose, nominated for an Academy Award for best actress in a supporting role for her work as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. “Color, ruffles, a gorgeous bodice, structure — all the things you want. One look that combined pants with a ballgown skirt, I just thought, yes, please, give me that and I’ll be in business.”
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DeBose was seated with Sarah Edmiston, one-half of her styling team Zadrian + Sarah. Edmiston laughed when asked if she and the actress were scouting for Oscar gowns. “I can’t talk about that, I’d be shot,” she joked. “I do love that there’s always something romantic and feminine about Herrera, though Wes also has kept it so contemporary. There’s also a boldness to it, and when you combine it with that soft, feminine element, that’s something we love to use for our clients. We love giving women powerful silhouettes that are also graced with a certain femininity, and this is a brand that does that really well.”
With travel restrictions easing up, Gordon said he was inspired by his global clientele this season. “I’m so happy to be back on the road again and spending time with women all over the world who love Herrera,” he told The Hollywood Reporter following the show. “These are brave, confident, self-assured women, and they really are looking for the bold, dramatic, fabulous pieces, and it was really keeping them in mind that led to this collection.”
From the first look out, an ivory silk-moiré blouse featuring billowing, voluminous sleeves and paired with black skinny pants, Gordon was indicating his intent on crafting entrance-making clothes for fall. Bright colors and the label’s penchant for thoughtful combinations quickly followed, including a strapless dress with sculpted bodice in poppy-red silk faille and a stunner of a sculpted strapless gown in a purple Gordon dubbed “iris,” with the lining of its train in deep crimson.
Other showstoppers included a sculpted minidress with a lavish tulle train, both in blush pink, and a tulle ballgown with intermezzo front in tones of deep purple, magenta and poppy red.
“I’m obsessive when it comes to color; the first part of my process is to create the palette,” he explained. “I never like to use drab, dusty colors; the world is drab enough. So our colors are almost 110-percent pure pigment, and I find when they’re all on that same level of vibrancy, you can mix them in unexpected ways.”
Fresh off filming Wildflower with Jean Smart and the success of HBO’s The White Lotus, Alexandra Daddario noted that she loved Gordon’s designs for the house of Herrera because they’re “sophisticated and sexy and womanly, and they make me feel beautiful,” she said. “I tend to be very casual in my personal life, but when it’s time to get dressed up, I want the ruffles and the princess gowns and the things that move beautifully.”
And how was it working with the widely beloved Jean Smart? “Just incredible,” Daddario added. “She is completely adorable, and by that I mean it’s very easy to adore her.”
Gordon of course is accustomed to dressing such high-wattage women, with Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling and Cynthia Erivo among the stars who wore Herrera on 2021 red carpets. While he says he doesn’t design with Hollywood overtly in mind, he understands the attraction. “The Herrera woman is someone for whom the seas part when she walks in the room,” he says. “She’s the one everyone looks at, and she makes an unforgettable impression. That’s definitely in line with red carpet.”
It remains to be seen whether gowns like Gordon’s one-shoulder silk faille gown with train in a brilliant goldenrod yellow, an ivory faille strapless A-line gown lushly embroidered with black bows, or the more playful pieces that featured an all-over embellishment of beaded black fringe will make an appearance on upcoming red carpets.
But it’s undeniable that DeBose enjoyed both the show and is soaking in every moment of this particular New York Fashion Week, when designers are likely clamoring to dress her for the March 27 Academy Awards. “It’s been really fun, because now I’m in a space where I can truly just enjoy the beautiful designs,” she said. (DeBose also will attend the Michael Kors show on Tuesday evening). “Being a New Yorker and being a Latina, I can see myself in this work. I just love how Wes can be himself, but then bring it back to the heart of what Carolina Herrera stands for, which is sophistication and femininity, and walking through the world with integrity and style. He really did that with this collection.”
Finally, a lovely moment took place at the show’s conclusion, after all the models had walked the traditional finale carousel: Gordon brought out Miro Hermes and Francois Bouchet, both wearing the traditional white coats of a workroom; these gentlemen who work as pattern-makers are retiring from the house after 22 and 19 years, respectively. “This is their final show, and they’ve been with us all these years, with Mrs. Herrera and me,” Gordon noted. “Ultimately the craft is about everything we do, and I believe the moment is now to celebrate beautifully made clothes, and to enjoy wearing them as well.”
