Carolina Herrera presented its first resort runway show at a private residence in Rio de Janeiro, with a view of Guanabara Bay and Christ the Redeemer. Wes Gordon had the models and attendees smiling with a youthfulness to the collection all women of all demographic could find a piece to wear. Some of our favourites were the denim and flower trend embellishments.
Carolina Herrera Resort ’24
Carolina Herrera Resort ’24
For Wes Gordon, this collection represents a significant milestone in the 42-year-old American fashion house’s journey. The Puig-owned brand is joining luxury powerhouses Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Dior on the destination show map, treating 400 mostly Brazilian guests to three days of festivities in the South American fashion capital.
The Carolina Herrera Resort 2024 collection embarks on a journey of exuberant joy and sensuality. A spirit of litheness and ultramodern ease permeates the collection, with unique pieces that sacrifice zero fabulousness.
Creative Director Wes Gordon continues reinventing iconic Herrera house codes in new ways through different proportions, fabrications, and a rainbow-hued colour palette grounded in signature New York black. The proportions of the classic cotton shirt are scaled up considerably, wrapped and tucked into floor-skimming skirts cut in a sarong-like drape. Polka dots are playful in pieces such as menswear-inspired silk shirting and pants worn over a matching bikini top. Eyelet cotton is shown in vibrant green, lacquer red and black, cut as dramatic cocktail dresses, ball skirts and gowns that lend an air of ease to elevated, glamorous separates.
First Destination Resort Show in Rio
Herrera celebrated the ready-to-wear and the fragrance side of the business when the runway show opened into an after-party for the new Good Girl Blush Eau de Parfum.
The resort is Herrera’s biggest RTW sales season, said creative director Gordon during a preview, so adding a runway show for it made sense. “Brazil is one of the biggest Latin American markets for us, and it’s in the top 10 globally,” he said of the fashion division. “But Carolina Herrera is the number-one brand in prestige fragrances in Latin America.”
Of course, the designer and beauty director Carolina Adriana Herrera visited São Paulo to launch Good Girl Dot Drama in 2019.
After working for Herrera herself, Gordon took over in 2018. While visiting Rio for the first time for the show, as a designer, he’s always been inspired by the allure of Brazil: “The colour, the beauty, the joy, the sensuality and optimism.… Those are all words we use to describe Herrera as well.”
“We’re taking Herrera codes and giving them Rio energy,” Gordon said, incorporating bikini tops, sarong skirts, short shorts, crochet, raffia and oversized sun hats into the mix.
“There’s a focus on lifestyle in this slightly more casual collection,” he added, showing off a packable green polka-dot bikini top and matching billowy long skirt sans crinoline. “Our customer can adapt this with a white shirt and gold jewellery; that’s how Mrs Herrera would wear it.”
Gordon has taken several of his successful eveningwear silhouettes from the ballroom to the beach, trimming topiary-sized black-and-white tulle minidresses down to size and adding layers of black tulle to the front of a bodysuit but leaving the back flat so the wearer can easily do the samba.
“Everything is easy but impactful,” he said, pointing out a chartreuse green strapless column gown as sweet as a caipirinha with an asymmetric cape layer floating on top.
Plus, Gordon is debuted three men’s looks on the runway.
“CH does menswear, but we’ve never done it. I’m not thinking of it linearly; it was just a cool oversize shirt and jacket. And we have them straightforwardly shown on guys, but they are also perfectly styled on women. Sometimes to get that great boxy shape, you have to start with a men’s pattern,” he explained of the oversize seersucker double-breasted blazer and self-belted shorts, faded oversize denim tunic, and shorts looks that are really genderless.
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