The first thing Carolina Herrera Junior does when she arrives at the new CH lifestyle boutique on Mount Street, in Mayfair, is to rush to the childrenswear she designed for her mother’s eponymous brand. “It’s the first time I’ve seen it in a shop,” she enthuses, refolding a boy’s striped jumper. Carolina Herrera Senior joins in, picking up a girl’s dress. “It can be worn by real children,” she says in her thick Venezuelan accent. “I’ve seen children dressed up as old ladies, with bows and high heels.” To which Herrera Jnr confides: “When I was young, she dressed me in white, with bows everywhere. I’m more likely to dress my children in Boden.”Mother-and-daughter duo, the Herreras, are super-relaxed. Starting the interview, we walk and talk, rather than sit. “Wandering is more amusing and it’s less formal,” says Carolina Snr brightly. This wasn’t the vibe I’d been expecting from America’s fashion royalty. The Carolina Herrera brand is major in the US – its mainline is worn by Anna Wintour, Penélope Cruz, Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger and Park Avenue princesses. It was Jackie Onassis’s favourite label.
Outside the US, the name is synonymous with its stable of fragrances, a success they’re hoping to emulate in fashion by opening CH Carolina Herrera lifestyle boutiques. “This is our fourth CH boutique,” explains Herrera Snr of the brand’s first London shop, “and we have another 18 opening around the world this year. We’re going global.”
The boutique feels right for London, especially the den-like downstairs area, which hosts CH menswear, womenswear, childrenswear and accessory lines. All are more contemporary than the Carolina Herrera mainline or couture, which are not sold in CH boutiques. The womenswear is a sweetshop of colourful, fresh designs. A green printed blouse, a canary-yellow belted shirt-dress, a cute white blouse with gold buttons are reminiscent of urban-cool labels, such as Paul & Joe.
“It’s important to do separates now because the idea of a total look is not creative,” says Herrera Snr, now in her late sixties and wearing a grey Carolina Herrera skirt, CH blouse and a grey fur stole.
“Mount Street is so chic. I waited and waited until there was the right spot for us. I’ve been coming to London all my life and I always loved this area.”
Carolina Snr moved to New York from Venezuela in 1981 and soon established her label. She had been brought up in a society whirl, friends with everyone from Diana Vreeland to Andy Warhol. Carolina Jnr started working with her mother in 1997.
“She came for an internship in New York, and we loved the way she did things,” says Herrera of her daughter. “I launched the 212 fragrance and it was a success, so the project expanded,” says Herrera Jnr, 40, who is also in a grey Carolina Herrera dress, but with her brown wavy hair loose and unkempt. Today, Herrera Jnr is in charge of all nine fragrances and the childrenswear, with the fashion lines strictly her mother’s domain.
“We work well together because she lives in Spain and I live in New York. She’s my daughter, so I cannot fire her,” says Herrera Snr, and they both laugh. Herrera then pats her daughter’s shoulder as she speaks: “She complements me. We have the same style, but in a different way. Carolina has a very modern eye.”
Usually, the pair speak Spanish together, and they say their relationship is family-focused. “I’m not one of those people who likes to talk about what I’m doing. There are so many other things to talk about,” says Herrera Snr, who is married to Reinaldo Herrera Guevara, an editor at Vanity Fair. As well as Herrera Jnr, Carolina has three other daughters, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. During the holidays they all meet up at the family estate in Caracas.
Along with her friend Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, Herrera attended the Burberry show at London Fashion Week yesterday. “I like what Christopher Bailey is doing there, and I love Vivienne Westwood. Usually I wear my own designs, but sometimes I cannot resist other peoples’.”
Herrera’s style tip is that “women should wear something that goes with their personality and not because it’s fashionable” And her beauty tip? “Don’t wear excessive make-up as you grow older. Young women can wear whatever make-up they want, but if you are older you will regret it.” On hearing this, Herrera Jnr says: “You tell me the opposite. I don’t wear a lot of make-up, but you tell me I should.”
To which Herrera Snr replies bluntly, as only a mother can: “Sometimes you’re very pale, that’s why I tell you.” And they both laugh, showing that, however successful, the mother-and-daughter relationship is always the same.
The boutique feels right for London, especially the den-like downstairs area, which hosts CH menswear, womenswear, childrenswear and accessory lines. All are more contemporary than the Carolina Herrera mainline or couture, which are not sold in CH boutiques. The womenswear is a sweetshop of colourful, fresh designs. A green printed blouse, a canary-yellow belted shirt-dress, a cute white blouse with gold buttons are reminiscent of urban-cool labels, such as Paul & Joe.
“It’s important to do separates now because the idea of a total look is not creative,” says Herrera Snr, now in her late sixties and wearing a grey Carolina Herrera skirt, CH blouse and a grey fur stole.
“Mount Street is so chic. I waited and waited until there was the right spot for us. I’ve been coming to London all my life and I always loved this area.”
Carolina Snr moved to New York from Venezuela in 1981 and soon established her label. She had been brought up in a society whirl, friends with everyone from Diana Vreeland to Andy Warhol. Carolina Jnr started working with her mother in 1997.
“She came for an internship in New York, and we loved the way she did things,” says Herrera of her daughter. “I launched the 212 fragrance and it was a success, so the project expanded,” says Herrera Jnr, 40, who is also in a grey Carolina Herrera dress, but with her brown wavy hair loose and unkempt. Today, Herrera Jnr is in charge of all nine fragrances and the childrenswear, with the fashion lines strictly her mother’s domain.
“We work well together because she lives in Spain and I live in New York. She’s my daughter, so I cannot fire her,” says Herrera Snr, and they both laugh. Herrera then pats her daughter’s shoulder as she speaks: “She complements me. We have the same style, but in a different way. Carolina has a very modern eye.”
Usually, the pair speak Spanish together, and they say their relationship is family-focused. “I’m not one of those people who likes to talk about what I’m doing. There are so many other things to talk about,” says Herrera Snr, who is married to Reinaldo Herrera Guevara, an editor at Vanity Fair. As well as Herrera Jnr, Carolina has three other daughters, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. During the holidays they all meet up at the family estate in Caracas.
Along with her friend Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, Herrera attended the Burberry show at London Fashion Week yesterday. “I like what Christopher Bailey is doing there, and I love Vivienne Westwood. Usually I wear my own designs, but sometimes I cannot resist other peoples’.”
Herrera’s style tip is that “women should wear something that goes with their personality and not because it’s fashionable” And her beauty tip? “Don’t wear excessive make-up as you grow older. Young women can wear whatever make-up they want, but if you are older you will regret it.” On hearing this, Herrera Jnr says: “You tell me the opposite. I don’t wear a lot of make-up, but you tell me I should.”
To which Herrera Snr replies bluntly, as only a mother can: “Sometimes you’re very pale, that’s why I tell you.” And they both laugh, showing that, however successful, the mother-and-daughter relationship is always the same.
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ReplyDeleteI am charmed with your blog and CH. You might say story to me Andy costs the purse?
Thank you