Carolina Herrera Pre-Fall 2020

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Move over, Michael Kors. You’re not New York fashion’s only overt optimist. Wes Gordon’s right up there with you. At his informal presentation at the Carolina Herrera showroom on Wednesday, Gordon started his casual narration by saying that he’s happiest at his farm in Connecticut where he and his husband go every weekend, having picnics, hosting friends and watching the dogs romp freely.

His idea for pre-fall was, he said, “[to take] the love and laughter and good feelings of Saturday and Sunday, transporting that to Monday to Friday…not just saving the colorful, happy moments for the weekends.” To that end, he “went a little ‘Green Acres’ and Ava Gabor, a little bit if the high-city glamour mixed with some country wit.”

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The collection made good on its concept (even if Gordon went a little more Ava than Eddie Albert), delivering glamour with subtle sweetness and a casual attitude that belied the often-intricate constructions of the clothes. He opened with happy tailoring — a belted pantsuit in a light blue-and-white plaid that has good old gingham somewhere on its ancestral tree. Feisty short looks came in a draped marigold number inspired by Zendaya’s Carolina-clad appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” and an alabaster leather dress with bold plaid yoke woven from PVC, leather and grosgrain, an example of a deliberate effort to zhuzh up the brand’s leather offerings. “She’s not coming to us for a black jacket,” Gordon said.

Oh, but she will come for a delightful yellow wisteria-print-on-chiffon dream dress, blown-up floral wallpaper motifs and an exquisite gown with basket-weave bodice so intricate it must be fitted and made-to-order. And she’ll come for dresses that make inventive use of bows, a house signature that Gordon employed for numerous inventive bodice constructions, including a gentle stunner of a gown in dusty aquamarine.

To finish his narration, Gordon told his guests to please take a carton of fresh farm eggs that were stacked on a table in the showroom. A treat from Gordon’s Green Acres to enjoy from one’s own penthouse (or other) view.

Launch Gallery: Carolina Herrera Pre-Fall 2020

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