Carolina Herrera’s Final Show Was as Emotional as it Was Beautiful

On Monday night, Carolina Herrera took her final bow at New York Fashion Week, following her fall 2018 fashion show. She was accompanied by Wes Gordon, who has been consulting at the brand for the last year and will be taking over from Herrera moving forward.

Herrera’s final collection was full of gorgeous red carpet-ready gowns and included an homage to the designer and her iconic white shirt.

The show’s front row was full of fashion heavy-hitters, who offered glowing praise for Herrera and her successor.  “I’m a huge admirer of Carolina the designer and Carolina the woman,” said Harper’s Bazaar Editor-in-Chief Glenda Bailey. “It’s with a heavy heart that I see her last collection. She will always be a part of the brand and be involved, and she’ll always be a guiding light to Wes.”

“It’s a swan song, not a retirement,” said Vogue’s Hamish Bowles. “Carolina has had a very sustained voice from the beginning, and made a clear case for continuity, quality, and and enduring ladylike spirit with an edge, like her. After all she was carousing at Studio 54 being photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe… Wes understands how to do lady-like with an edge. It will be interesting to see how develops with his own sensibility.”

Hamish Bowles and Virginia Smith of Vogue front row at Carolina Herrera. (Getty Images)

“I have goosebumps,” said Karlie Kloss, after the show. “It’s bittersweet… She’s an icon and always will be. The house will have her spirit, her joie de vivre, her timeless elegance. That will live on whether she’s in the atelier or not.”

At the end of the show, Herrera brought her atelier onto the runway to take a bow with her. “That was a true testament to the class act that she is and always will be,” said Kloss. “She’s the most talented, and such a humble woman. It’s truly a family. She’s going to missed.”  

Carolina Herrera and her atelier take a bow at the end of Herrera’s fall 2018 show. (Getty Images)