Carolina Herrera, Spring 2027 collection

For its Spring 2027 collection, fashion house Carolina Herrera returns to its birthplace: New York. Forty five years after Mrs. Herrera first presented her designs in the city, Creative Director Wes Gordon offers a modern-day reimagining of the world she built in 1981, and of the women who inhabited it.

As Carolina Herrera’s Creative Director, Wes Gordon, explains: “Forty-five years gives you an extraordinary heritage to work with… This collection is about taking everything we love about Herrera and asking what it looks like today.”

And so, Gordon brings the 1981 world of Herrera: an époque of glamour and beauty, of socialites C.Z. Guest, Diana Vreeland, and Lee Radziwill into 2027. He migrates the legendary ‘Swans’ of 1981 to contemporary Manhattan. He understands the city woman’s relationship with fashion remains the same, dressing is still a pleasure, but that the dialogue between the wearer and her clothes has become sharper, more confident, distinctly modern. At Herrera, femininity has never meant fading into the background.

“I love the idea of the ‘ladies who lunch,’” Gordon says. “I wanted to own it and ask what that woman looks like today.” For Spring, she is constantly on the go: walking down Park Avenue in full bloom, her floral organza dress matching the flowers; hailing yellow taxis; gathering her billowing skirt through the door; and marching to meetings in her tailored Herrera tweed suit.

Day to Night

The New York woman is always on the go, moving from uptown to downtown, day to night. Consequently, the Herrera collection follows her throughout her day. The day begins with A-line skirts and elongated jackets, established in fabrics such as tweed, cotton poplin, gabardine, and denim, setting a strong foundation for a practical New York day. As the afternoon approaches, the materials become lighter and more luminous. Metallic lace, organza, and gazar introduce transparency and movement, while chiffon and ribbon knits create welcomed texture.

The Codes of Carolina Herrera’s New York

Since its inception, the label has been renowned for its vibrant and joyful take on the art of dressing. In this collection, colour becomes one of the strongest expressions of the Herrera identity. Black, white, Herrera Red, and Taxi Cab Yellow form the foundation of the New York cityscape. Then Ceramic, Sorbet, Powder, Cielo and Cucumber complete the colour palette.

The combination of yellow, black, white and polka dots evokes Herrera’s first fragrance packaging, designed by Yves Zimmermann in 1988. The Pom Pom Floral is set against black, giving the fluid natural forms a sharper, bolder definition. Meanwhile, the signature polka dot motif runs through the collection, thus giving the House’s historical codes new forms.

The craftsmanship of the Atelier remains at the heart of the collection. Detailed embroidery, encrusted lace, silver Lurex dentellerie and sculptural ruffles formed from hundreds of precisely cut organza strips undoubtedly place the Atelier’s familiar design history amongst the contemporary fashions of modern New York.

The relationship between Herrera’s heritage and today’s New York is emphasised through the accessories. Chiefly, the Mimi Bag returns in lustrous satin, some variations decorated with tiny golden frogs, a playful reference to La Grenouille, the storied New York restaurant. The Consuelo Bag reappears with tassel detailing, while the Pats and Bianca clutches receive new interpretations. Meanwhile, statement tassels, oversized pearls, Zebra brooches, grenouille motifs and a charming nod to New York’s black and white cookie lend a sense of fun and humour to the jewellery.

In Dialogue with the City

The show itself contributes to the collection’s narrative. Bureau Betak transforms the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, filling the space with over 30,000 tulips and setting the scene of Park Avenue in spring. The blooming stage mirrors the floral printed dresses that float across it, weaving Manhattan into the collection itself.

After the show, the tulips will be donated and repurposed as mulch for local parks. And so, the spectacle returns to the city that inspired it, contributing to the New York City circle of life.

Herrera Legacy Rewritten

The brand’s bond with the city extends beyond the runway through three special collaborations.

The first connects Herrera with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to present Warhol’s portrait of Mrs. Herrera for the first time. Her profile embellishes selected bespoke pieces, including an embroidered mini dress and the Jacqueline bag. And so, the image recalls the friendship between Warhol and Mrs. Herrera and the creative world they shared in New York.

The second collaboration looks to another institution of the city: The New Yorker. An embroidered dress recreates the cover of the April 27, 1981 issue, published on the same day Carolina Herrera presented her first fashion show at The Metropolitan Club. Designed by Lonni Sue Johnson, the Manhattan skyline is fabricated via hand stitching at the Herrera atelier. Thus, a piece of New York heritage diffuses into contemporary fashion.

The third collaboration unites Herrera and Taffin, the fine jewelry house founded by James de Givenchy. Floral earrings reflect the blooms of the collection, while textured gold orbs recall jewelry worn by Mrs. Herrera in the 80s. Returning to the shared history of 954 Madison Avenue, the runway capsule uses colored gemstones and handcrafted ceramics inspired by New York, the collection’s palette, and Mrs. Herrera’s personal style.

The collection pays homage to the classic motifs of the Atelier while repurposing them to fit the silhouettes and lifestyles of the modern Manhattan woman. Thus, rather than simply preserving the iconic legacy of Carolina Herrera, Wes Gordon reinterprets it for the modern woman.

Show Credits

Creative Director: Wes Gordon
Styling: Malina Joseph Gilchrist
Production: Bureau Betak
Casting: Rachel Chandler
Makeup: James Kaliardos
Hair: Jimmy Paul
Music: Ben Brunnemer