NEW YORK (AP) — It was all about drama at Carolina Herrera’s show Monday with signature oversized bows, sweeping gowns with long trains and bright pops of color contrasted with optic whites and jet blacks.
Designer Wes Gordon’s flirty tiered ruffle gowns stood out even more in bold blues, greens and yellows. But he also added more unconventional color pairings, upping the sophistication with red and pink and clementine orange mixed with aquamarine.
“My main goal at Herrera is to bring as much color to the house as possible. It’s one of my main goals in life. I think the world needs as much beautiful color as it can possibly get,” Gordon said in a backstage interview during New York Fashion week.
The show attracted a handful of young Hollywood celebrities, including Dominican singer Natti Natasha, “Liv and Maddie” actress Dove Cameron and “Girls” star Zosia Mamet.
The “Sin Pijama ”singer Natasha, who walked in the The Blonds show over the weekend, said she loves attending shows and seeing how a designer “brings new moments to fashion.”
“Fashion has grown so much that I feel like you dare more now to do different things,” she told The Associated Press.
Cameron says she’s “a massive fan” of the brand.
“It’s so beautiful, so feminine. It’s got a beautiful structure to it,” she said.
The show comes on the heels of a big Oscar night where the brand dressed Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend Camila Morrone in a stunning strapless, white gown with a corseted-style bodice.
Gordon said it was a last minute decision.
“You never know. There’s a lot of anxiety. There’s a lot of options right up until the last second ... things happen, things change, quite often they don’t work out, but that’s just part of the process.”
In the collection presented Monday, Herrera’s signature bows studded the looks — tied around the wrists, on dresses at the nape of the neck or dramatically on the lower back — all with elegant hanging edges. Dresses and blouses with floral cutouts were woven throughout the collection.
“They all come back to conveying drama, and we are all about drama at Herrera,” Gordon said.
The majority of the models wore flats. Gordon paired sophisticated evening dresses with casual slides.
“The old fashion rules have all gone away,” said the 33-year-old designer. “It’s about dressing for you, dressing your personality.”
The show brought an eclectic mix of celebrities including former Miami Heat star Chris Bosh, former Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley and theater producer Jordan Roth.
“Fashion week is fun and insane and every year it feels like a whirlwind,” Mamet said.
Most of the models sported a minimal makeup look and somewhat austere, pulled-back hair. But Herrera just made its first foray into makeup with a line that includes 36 shades of glamorous lipsticks.
“If you think of that iconic Andy Warhol portrait of Mrs. Herrera, it’s the lips, those fabulous red lips,” Gordon said.