HOUSE ARREST

Wes Gordon pays homage to the venerated 40-year-old roots of Carolina Herrera in a delightful reimagining.

BY TERRI PROVENCAL

You couldn’t miss it on the runway—flowers and big, bold sequins adding the oomph every woman yearned for these past two dark years, hard-to-choose-from styles for spring 2022. The dressed-up collection celebrates the 40th anniversary year of Carolina Herrera (marked in 2021) and the story continues with a young fashion designer based in New York, where the house was founded.

Creative director Wes Gordon is so guilelessly handsome at six-three that upon first glance, you immediately want to get to know him. And that smile—well, let’s just say we were enraptured by his appearance at TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art last fall, which he attended with his husband, the notable glass artist Paul Arnhold.

Even better, he loves Texas women.

“There’s something about Texas,” Gordon says. “It’s very aligned with my design philosophies at Herrera. Creating clothes that turn every moment into a celebration and dressing up. Dressing as if life is a party, and bright, bold color, fun, exuberance.” He adds, “At Herrera, we are very opposed to boring basic clothes, and I think there are few places in the country that better embody that same belief than Texas.”

Gordon, who took helm of the haute label in 2018, describes the spring collection as “very much in keeping with the brand’s foundation of prints, but doing it in kind of a renewed, vivacious, bold way that is very modern and of the moment.” Good-natured yet decided, he is unswerving in his ethos. “I am designing for that woman who is in hot pink when everyone else is in grey or black. You know the woman. She is not looking to disappear into a sea of other people but is looking to be unforgettable and is unforgettable.”

To that end, is there anything more memorable than sequins, which are prevalent in this collection? Not according to Gordon, who is certainly not afraid to use them. “Sometimes it’s a larger scale payette and sometimes it is kind of this micro-sequin all over. But you know the common thread amongst all these different techniques is the light quality, and the shine, and the iridescence, turning the dress and the woman into a star, into metal, into just this completely reflective, bright, light-catching surface.”

Marking four decades of fashion he recalls, “You know this brand was started in 1981, right at the heights of one of America’s most glamorous fashion periods, and that’s very much in our DNA. The spirit of glamour, elegance, sparkle, and shine. So, it’s been something that I try to weave into our narrative every season.”

Of the roomful of impeccably dressed women at TWO x TWO, including hostess Cindy Rachofsky and presenting sponsor Nancy C. Rogers, he remarks, “They dress with exuberance and enthusiasm. There’s a joyfulness that is just so fun for anyone who’s a fashionista. I think that’s a reason designers love going to Texas: It is that Texan women not only love and appreciate fashion, but they live their lives in it.”

Enthusiastic about his time last fall at The Rachofsky House, where TWO x TWO takes place annually, he commits to returning. “The entirety of the event—the house tours, the dinners, everything. My husband and I had the greatest possible time, and we will definitely be back.” P

Runway looks from the Spring/Summer 2022 Carolina Herrera collection. Courtesy of Carolina Herrera. Right: Lipstick red is a long-lasting signature of Carolina Herrera. Courtesy of Carolina Herrera. Photograph by Kevin Tachman.