A single pink peony greeted each guest at Carolina Herrera's latest fashion show, celebrating the flower with splashy prints and detailed embroidery. Monday's New York Fashion Week show was held on the 40th floor of a downtown skyscraper, with 360-degree views of Manhattan serving as the perfect backdrop for a fall/winter collection of bright colours in unconventional combinations, and striking gowns in sumptuous fabrics.
Peonies made several appearances on the catwalk, too. An A-line grey wool collarless coat had pink peonies of varying sizes splashed over it, while a shorter white wool cape was adorned with similar detailed pink and yellow peony embroidering.
Herrera Creative Director Wes Gordon said he saw the flower — one of his favourites — on an art piece and wanted to translate it into his designs. “Beauty and elegance are about the details, and we need more beautiful details in the world,” Gordon told media sources after the show.
Several more casual, bright yellow gathered chiffon dresses with peony designs. But two of the most dramatic looks were chiffon ball gowns — one in light pink and another in deep purple — covered in darker pink peonies with multiple layers of giant printed chiffon ruffles, accenting the neckline or hips.
“The prints this season were based on a 19th-century gouache painting of a pink peony that I found. I rendered it on chiffons in a quite small scale ... then I exploded it on a ball skirt … working with our embroiderers who just rendered that painting in individual rows of thread,” Gordon said.
Gordon said his creative process this season started with creating unusual colour combinations within specific graphic designs and architectural looks. Two dresses down the long runway were strapless gowns with pockets — one in a bright red, and another with broad diagonal colour blocks of black and white.
“I wanted to push forward how we colour-blocked and incorporate the accessories as well,” Gordon said. He pointed to one model wearing a skinny black pant with a built-in pink cummerbund and purple merino wool turtleneck. The look included a leather sling-back shoe with the Herrera-red pattern. “You have this red speaking to this cool pink and the warm purple and it’s something really beautiful that results.”
Most of the models wore their hair tied into a tight bun with bright red lipstick accenting their clothes, as they marched slowly down the runway to the score from the new TV series Griselda, and Beyonce’s Halo.
Diane Kruger sat in the front row with Demi Moore, Anna Wintour, Becky G, Misty Copeland, and Julianne Hough.