Carolina Herrera (fashion designer)

Carolina Herrera

Herrera, in September 2007
Born (1939-01-08) January 8, 1939
Caracas, Venezuela
Nationality Venezuelan, American
Occupation Fashion designer
Spouse(s) Guillermo Behrens Tello (1957-64; divorced);
Reinaldo Herrera Guevara
Children 4
Labels Carolina Herrera New York
CH Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera (born January 8, 1939[1]) is a Venezuelan-American fashion designer[2] known for "exceptional personal style",[3] and for dressing First Ladies from Jacqueline Onassis[4] to Michelle Obama.[5] The New York Times cited her designs as "elegant and worldly without ever being fussy".[4]

Early and personal life

She was born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño[6] on January 8, 1939, in Caracas, Venezuela,[1] to Guillermo Pacanins Acevedo, an air force officer and former governor of Caracas,[7] and María Cristina Niño Passios.[8] Her socialite grandmother introduced her to the world of fashion, taking young Carolina to shows by Balenciaga and buying her outfits at Lanvin and Dior. She has said "My eye was accustomed to see pretty things."[9]

In 1957, at the age of 18, she married Guillermo Behrens Tello, a Venezuelan landowner, with whom she had two daughters, Mercedes and Ana Luisa.[10][11][12] They later divorced.

In 1968, in Caracas, she married Don Reinaldo Herrera Guevara, who had inherited the Spanish title The 5th Marquis of Torre Casa in 1962 upon his father's death.[13][14][15] Reinaldo was the host of Buenos Días, a Venezuelan morning-television news program and the elder son of Don Reinaldo Herrera Uslar, 4th Marquis of Torre Casa, a prominent Venezuelan sugarcane plantation owner, aristocrat and art collector.[14] Therefore, by marriage, Carolina held the title The Marquise consort of Torre Casa, until it was retracted in 1992, as Reinaldo had issued no son.[16] Her husband is a special-projects editor of Vanity Fair magazine,[8] and they have two daughters, Carolina Adriana and Patricia Cristina, and six grandchildren.[9][17]

In 2009, Herrera became a naturalized United States citizen.[2]

Career and brand

Carolina Herrera New York
Private
Industry Luxury Clothing
Founded 1980
Headquarters New York City, New York, United States
Key people
 Carolina Herrera
Products Clothes, fragrance
Website http://www.carolinaherrera.com
Herrera in a fashion show

In 1965, Herrera began her career working as a publicist for Emilio Pucci, a Florentine Marquis himself and a close family friend. She began working at Pucci's Caracas boutique, and moved to New York in 1980.[18] Frequently associating with Mick and Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol, at Studio 54, she became well known for her dramatic style. She first appeared on the International Best Dressed List in 1972, then was elected to its Hall of Fame in 1980.[9] In 1981, her friend Diana Vreeland, then Editor-in-Chief of Vogue suggested that Carolina design a clothing line. She did so, having samples made in Caracas, and debuted her collection at Manhattan's Metropolitan Club to critical acclaim. [19]A well known Park Avenue boutique, Martha's, agreed to showcase her clothing in their prominent windows. Upon this initial success, she returned to Caracas and raised capital to fund a more formal launch. Her first runway show in 1980 included future supermodel Iman.[9] Carolina Herrera presents her Ready-to-Wear Collection semiannually at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.[20][21]

The company has been based in New York City since 1980, and in 1981 the brand received recognition from several key publications, including Women's Wear Daily and Tatler, with particular early attention to her well designed sleeves. A few of her most notable clients have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who asked her to design the dress for her daughter Caroline's wedding, Diana, Duchess of Cadaval, who asked her to design the dress for her marriage with Prince Charles-Philippe of Orléans, Duke of Anjou,[22] and actress Renée Zellweger.[9]

In the late 1980s, Spanish fragrance company Puig licensed the Carolina Herrera name to develop and market a line of perfumes. In 1995, the firm acquired the Carolina Herrera fashion business, retaining her as Creative Director.[23] In 2008, they launched a ready-to-wear brand called CH Carolina Herrera; as of 2012, there were 18 Carolina Herrera and CH Carolina Herrera boutiques in the world, and her lines were carried in 280 stores in 104 countries.[24] As of 2011, her daughters Carolina Jr. and Patricia Lansing participated in the creative direction and design.[25] In February 2016, it was reported by WWD that the fragrance side of the business had more than 25,000 points of sale across the globe while the CH brand included 129 freestanding stores.[26]

In 2015, the first advert for the brand was released, featuring models Elisabeth Erm and Joséphine Le Tutour.[27]

Awards and achievements

In 2008, she was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award [28]from the Council of Fashion Designers of America,[29] and "Womenswear Designer of the Year" in 2004. Herrera is a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence as well as Spain's Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, which was presented to her in 2002 by King Don Juan Carlos I.[30] She was awarded the Gold Medal of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in 1997.[31]

She received the Fashion Group International Superstar Award,[32] the Style Awards Designer of the Year in 2012[33] and the "Mercedes-Benz Presents" title for her 2011 collection.[34] She has been on the cover of Vogue seven times.[29]

Since 2004, she has been a member of the board of directors of jewelry designer Mimi So,[35] and since 1999 on the board of the CFDA.[36]

In 2014, she earned the 2014 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion.[37]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "La Vanguardia Ediciones Newspaper, Jan. 22, 2013 - Subject Page - Carolina Herrera".
  2. 1 2 Leader, Romney (25 September 2009). "Carolina Herrera Makes It Official". Style.com. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  3. ↑ "Vanity Fair".
  4. 1 2 Morris, Bernadine (4 January 1994). "For Carolina Herrera, Tranquillity Amid Success". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Poggi, Jeanine (13 November 2008). "Inaugural Gowns Fit for Michelle Obama". Forbes.
  6. ↑ "Vogue Espana Biography of Carolina Herrera".
  7. ↑ "Ana L. Behrens-Pacanins Is Married To Luis Paraud-Carpena, Developer". The New York Times. 14 October 1989.
  8. 1 2 "Reinaldo Herrera Weds in Caracas". The New York Times. 21 September 1968.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Kotur, Alexandra (2004). "Forward by Hamish Bowles". Carolina Herrera: Portrait of a Fashion Icon. Assouline. pp. 8–13.
  10. ↑ Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopaedia, Volume 1, pages 325-326
  11. ↑ "Ana Behrens-Pacanins Is Married To Luis Paraud-Carpena, Developer". The New York Times. 14 October 1989. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13.
  12. ↑ Shapiro, Harriet (May 3, 1982). "From Venezuela to Seventh Avenue, Carolina Herrera's Fashions Cast a Long Shadow". People. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13.
  13. ↑ "Gobierno De Espana, Agencia Estatal Boletin Oficial del Estado - Order 3742" (PDF). 1 February 1975.
  14. 1 2 "Maria Herrera-Uslar; Society Figure Was 78". The New York Times. 28 December 1992.
  15. ↑ Philby, Charlotte (6 March 2010). "My Secret Life: Carolina Herrera, fashion designer, 71". The Independent (London).
  16. ↑ "Gobierno De Espana, Agencia Estatal Boletin Oficial del Estado - Order 26340" (PDF). March 16, 1992.
  17. ↑ "Weddings/Celebrations: Patricia Herrera, Gerrit Lansing". The New York Times. 24 November 2002. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13.
  18. ↑ "Carolina Herrera | #BoF500 | The Business of Fashion". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  19. ↑ "Carolina Herrera Corporate Website". Carolina Herrera. Carolina Herrera.
  20. ↑ Bauknecht, Sara (February 5, 2013). "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette".
  21. ↑ Avion, Pablo (January 9, 2014). "New York Fashion Week Live".
  22. ↑ Silva, Cândida Santos (19 August 2010). "Diana de Cadaval: "Gosto que me chamem princesa"". Expresso (in Portuguese).
  23. ↑ "Puig, a Spanish fashion empire that started with a lipstick". Modaes. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  24. ↑ Taylor, Felicia (14 March 2012). "How Carolina Herrera turned being chic into big business". CNN.
  25. ↑ Chang, Bee-Shyuan (6 May 2011). "With Pops of Color". The New York Times.
  26. ↑ Foley, Bridget (10 February 2016). "Carolina Herrera’s Quiet Path to Power". WWD. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  27. ↑ "Carolina Herrera confie sa dernière campagne à Willy Vanderperre". ladepeche.fr (in French). La Dépêche du Midi. January 26, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  28. ↑ "CFDA Announces 2008 CFDA Fashion Awards Nominations". CFDA (Press release). CFDA. 14 March 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  29. 1 2 "Bio page and timeline for Carolina Herrera". Vogue.
  30. ↑ "Madrid with Carolina Herrera". Travel+Leisure. October 2005. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13.
  31. ↑ Spanish Institute Gala Announcement
  32. ↑ Margulies, Hadas (16 July 2012). "Carolina Herrera Is An Honorary Superstar". Elle.
  33. ↑ Feitelberg, Rosemary (7 September 2012). "Style Awards Honor Carolina Herrera, Reed Krakoff". WWD.
  34. ↑ Davis, Jim (24 August 2010). "Mercedes-Benz Presents Title Given to Fashion Designer Carolina Herrera". eMercedesBenz.com.
  35. ↑ "Carolina Herrera joining Mimi So board". Fashion Week Daily.
  36. ↑ "CFDA board taps Wang, Von Furstenberg, Spade". Women's Wear Daily. 1 July 1999. p. 11.
  37. ↑ Karimzadeh, Marc (7 February 2014). "The Couture Council to Honor Carolina Herrera". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 7 February 2014.

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