Classic modernism from Carolina Herrera in The Shed

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Feb 10, 2020

A brilliant statement of classic modernist fashion at Carolina Herrera, staged with grandeur inside a new monumental building in Hudson Yards, on a dreary gray Monday in New York Fashion Week.

A West Side building blessed with the unlikely name, The Shed. A towering 200-foot-high, high-tech space and the ideal location for a bold and beautiful Fall/Winter collection from Wes Gordon, the house’s 33-year-old designer.
 
Carolina Herrera is a brand known for its patrician polish, which is exactly what Gordon sent out – mellifluous floor-length Maid Marian dresses, precisely cut capes and classy A-line dresses in a marvelous cut-out anthracite wool.

Gordon played with a whole series of dress shapes – column, princess, empire and ball gown. His sense of proportion was brilliant throughout, his restraint impressive. Barely a print in sight, this collection was all about cut and line, and all the better for it.
 
For day, a pure tuxedo coat dress in black satin would flatter pretty much any woman. For cocktail hour, the Aegean blue knit column is sure to turn scores of heads.
 
Gordon took his bow to great applause, with the brand’s founder sitting close to Anna Wintour, leading the clapping.
 
"All very Carolina Herrera!" exclaimed Carolina Herrera to FashionNetwork.com post show.

This is one transition that is working smoothly. In just two years, Gordon has made the house very much his own. You could tell things are working well, by the huge smile on the face of the house’s patron, Marc Puig, whose Catalan clan also controls Jean Paul Gaultier, Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne and Dries Van Noten.
 
"I wanted a pure statement, avoiding any extraneous details. Just focusing on the essentials. And I found the ideal location to express that," explained Gordon.
 
"Do you know what? The walls of one side of this building can slide all the way back and close up the whole building like a giant flap, saving energy. Matter of fact, we better hurry up with the interviews or it might close in on us," he laughed nodding towards two giant steel wheels that held the exterior wall.