NEW YORK — Nobody does glamour like Carolina Herrera, whose collections, though sometimes indistinguishable from season to season, always offer plenty of luxurious looks for her well-heeled clientele.
Take away the sable-trimmed jackets and Herrera's new fall collection could just as easily work for spring, with jazzy geometric prints in bold patterns of bricks, mountains, diamonds and zig-zags, and bright colors (royal blues, deep reds) more normally suited for a warmer time of the year, particularly because the models wore strappy sandals. Herrera understands that her well-traveled customer isn't bound by the old rules of seasonal dressing.
Take away the sable-trimmed jackets and Herrera's new fall collection could just as easily work for spring, with jazzy geometric prints more normally suited for a warmer time of the year.
When she concentrates on dressing for chillier climes, Herrera does so in an ultra luxe way. A bright red pants outfit is trimmed in matching sable panels while alligator appliques dyed blue accent a brown wool coat.
Herrera, who told reporters backstage she was tired of referencing looks from the past and was looking for a more futuristic silhouette, experimented with shapes in this collection, creating gowns that flow away from the body and jackets with rounded shoulders and three-dimensional forms. She added fez like hats and tightly knotted buns for a playful touch.
Appreciating the collection were actresses Anna Kendrick, who was everywhere during her first New York fashion week experience, and Emmy Rossum, a fashion week regular. Also on hand were Houstonian Carrie Colbert, also experiencing her first fashion week, and her virtual stylist Erica Hanks.
"The way Herrera uses prints, the overlays with fur and turtleneck yokes are so innovative," Hanks said about the collection. "Some looks are sleeveless but there's a touch of fur. For Houston in the winter, it's perfect."
Colbert and Hanks, who is based in Charlotte, N.C., and whose clients include The Bachlorette's Emily Maynard and Samantha Busch, the wife of NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, struck up a friendship on the Internet. Hanks styled Colbert via emails and phone conversations when Colbert accompanied her husband, Bob Hogan, to Royal Ascot last summer and won raves from the British press. But the two had never met in person until New York fashion week.
"She's the first client I've ever styled virtually," Hanks said. "It's a lot of fun dressing Carrie. She's up for anything."
Colbert also took in collections of Naeem Khan, Honor, Alice + Olivia, Badgley Mischka and Ralph Lauren. She attended the Lauren show and dined with Lauren Bush Lauren after snaring the opportunity at an auction in Houston benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The Carolina Herrera fall collection featured geometric patterns and voluminous shapes.
