If there was a collection that encapsulated an entire emotion that most of us take for granted, it'd be Wes Gordon's debut for Carolina Herrera. Gordon, who served as a creative consultant for the brand before being promoted to creative director last season after Herrera stepped down, proved that even spring's most cliché of motifs — polka dots, florals, broderie anglaise — are timeless for a reason. And that happiness, as bleak as things can be (and how rainy it can be outside), will always show you where the light is (or, in this case, a blinding, brilliant yellow hue).
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"Get ready for the era of Herrera," the brand wrote on their Instagram ahead of its spring 2019 show. The act of a new designer taking inspiration from its original founder or its archives may not be the freshest approach to breathing new life into a fashion house, but Carolina Herrera isn't a brand that needs reviving anyway. Gordon's first collection, which featured in-your-face silhouettes in bold, confident colours, is meant to remind you of the DNA of the house — vibrant and vivid — not rewrite a new one. For Gordon, it was the tenacity of colour-blocking during the muted, minimalist's revival, it was sending models down the runway in clothes they can actually move in — it was the idea that even if you owned just one piece of any of it, your closet would be that much better.
Of his decision to see fashion on the upswing, Gordon told Vogue, "Everyone right now is dissecting what American fashion should be. I think a part of that — that America has the potential to do so well — is [to] take that fantasy and glamour, and also marry it with the everyday. In a way that’s still enticing and exciting and wonderful."
Seeing the glass half full is a good starting point, for sure, but Gordon has set the bar very high for anyone else who'd like to look at the bright side of things for a change.
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