Wes Gordon put women artists on his fall Carolina Herrera runway: Amy Sherald, Rachel Feinstein, Hannah Traore, Ming Smith, And Duong. For resort, he turned to the great Georgia O’Keeffe. The late painter is the subject of a new documentary, Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness of Light, streaming on AppleTV and YouTube, so we may be in for a wave of tributes. Gordon’s new collection wears her influence lightly: Yes, there are lush painterly florals (wild flowers and irises), but they’re not direct references. Instead, here and there, metal hardware evokes the Alexander Calder designed pin O’Keeffe used to fasten her shawls in place, and the nubby indigo tweed of a tailored jacket reflects her appreciation for traditional Japanese dress. Again, though, these are subtle details.
The Herrera of today is as youthful as it’s ever been. Gordon’s aim, he said in a showroom buzzing with sales appointments, is to make “clothes that can walk right off the runway”—or a lookbook shoot, as the case may be—“and onto the streets of New York.” Miami, too; the brand is opening in the city’s Design District in August.
Hence, a sweet little embroidered jacket is paired with a skinny jeans, one back pocket of which is stitched with the Carolina Herrera name, a playful nod, perhaps, to the designer denim lines of the brand’s 1980s origins. And thus the crisp white cotton shirt that is one of the label’s strongest signatures has been cut to tie well above the navel, flashing a good couple of inches of midriff. A black version is paired with a full black party skirt designed with an iconic Bruce Weber-lensed image of the house founder, young and dancing, in mind. Her 1980s self would surely also like the look of a pair of black cigarette pants finished with an inbuilt lavender waist sash, floral brooch optional.
A short strapless dress with exaggerated sleeves in the O’Keeffe-ish iris print and a tulle gown with a tiered hem skirt in desert sunset colors will both hold appeal for the party set.
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