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Don't Worry, Be Happy: Wes Gordon Sets The Mood At Carolina Herrera

Photo: Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images.
Photo: Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images.
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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Photo: Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images.
Photo: Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images.
"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 colors, 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 color-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.
Photo: Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images.
Photo: Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images.
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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