Carolina herrera ss27
New York City | 09.14.2026 | 6:00 p.m. EST
Wes Gordon demonstrated a profound performance on the runway on Monday, embodying classic pieces that I can imagine finding in Olivia Palermo’s closet because of the most notable details, such as tweed and ruffles, which appear to be a popular commodity this season. Come Spring, I expect to be seeing each and every garment on the real-life runways of uptown New York; the garments were slightly avant-garde, for Herrera’s timeless aesthetic, of course, and most definitely not to the extent we see with brands like Balenciaga or Margiela. Relative to the brand’s identity, the clothing felt innovative with the thoughtful pairing of different patterns. The ways in which colors were seen throughout the show felt the most intentional out of all of the design elements as well; for example, the primarily neutral base colors with accessories or details in bursts of yellow or red. Either way, spring is certainly the most quintessential Herrera season.
The theme was a love letter to New York, and maybe that explained why certain items felt slightly repetitive, considering the brand was celebrating their 45th anniversary. There was hardly anything that came onto the runway that I wouldn’t have loved to have in my own wardrobe; however, I’m sure I could have bought similar items from past shows as well. I adored the way the items were styled—and while collectively they were on the inventive edge—individually, I wasn’t seeing anything new. The polka dots, colors, and romantic florals were overly pedestrian, and although I love them for being timeless, I don’t at an art show.
I would have liked to see some more pieces that felt as flawless as the nod to Carolina Herrera, with her face on a dress, adorned with two boas—a black one around the neckline and a bright yellow (shocking) one around the bottom hemline. I’m never a huge fan of pictures being displayed on dresses, since my belief is that dresses should have enough interesting architectural aspects themselves without the need to add in an image, although this image was different from what I’m normally referring to. When I see something like Gurung’s soccer dress, I’m instantly disgusted because, in what world should that appear in high fashion? Today, though, the picture on the dress wasn’t one that could’ve been taken by a camera; it was art in itself and was embellished with beads to create the multi-dimensional look for an otherwise flat dress.
One thing I have been waiting out for in hope of, for all of New York Fashion Week, has been waistlines, and of course Herrera delivered. High waistlines and exaggerated shoulders and hips, just to cinch in at the middle, brought me back to my early days when I was first learning about Dior’s Bar jacket. I had been longing in anticipation for a designer to correctly celebrate the feminine stature with clothing instead of completely concealing it in oversized, baggy items, or completely exposing it with crop tops or sheer see-through blouses. Herrera was conservative, and not overly showy, which I appreciated for a change. I never saw a dress from Gordon that I would have been terrified to sit in at the risk of exposing certain areas, proving that modesty triumphs over indecency.
I saw a repeated element of belts, often used in otherwise straight-cut pieces in order to hug the waist slightly more. The textures most outshone the other design elements, with sequins, to laces, and even beaded items. To add on, I loved to see the almost invisible buttons. I do love a statement button, but even better is one where the only outline comes from the shadow because of how seamlessly it otherwise blends in. The stitching and tailoring was immaculate, and fortunately, I didn’t see any loose threads because that would have quickly depleted my review. The dresses always had some element that stood out—literally. The garments looked very tactile. My favorite addition was the reflective flowers in look 57; a unique perspective on the typically boring floral patterns, although Herrera did engage in producing those as well.
LOOK 7 — ★★★★★
What it is + why it matters.
When I mention the mixture of patterns, Look 7 is the embodiment. Essentially every single element that I have praised today could be found somewhere within the contents of Look 7: the thin white belt at the waist, the neutral black and white clothing with the exception of the yellow shoes, and especially the mix of the polka dot blouse underneath the tweed checker skirt and blazer set.
LOOK 59 — ★★★★★
What it is + why it matters.
I would have classified this dress as the most experimental piece that the show witnessed. Paired alongside the other garments in the show, this one was almost the exact inverse. Instead of a tight waist, we saw a protruding silhouette. The ruffles weren’t only a detail; for this dress, they WERE the dress. Finally, the colors were the most obviously inverted, with the yellow conversely making up the body of the dress and the polka dots being used for the shoe choices and the earrings. If you were to take both Look 7, in fact, and Look 59 and place them side by side, you would see that they do complement each other well because of the similarities in their palettes.
To conclude, I felt like this was a successful show, and despite some obvious repetitions from previous collections, the garments were interesting and put together. The only real combination that I would absolutely not wear was the blue and brown polka dot sequins. As opposed to an ageless look, these followed some of the most notable recent trends. You can even find this specific quirky color combination at Brandy Melville, which is not a brand I would hope to have a commonality with. Not to mention offsetting the cohesion that the rest of the show emitted, but aside from this mishap, I found the presentation to be exquisite.
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Even the floral patterns themselves felt oddly familiar, almost too close to the ones in the most recent AW 2026 showing. Since the borrowing was actually intended, though, to celebrate 45 years since their founding in 1981, I’ll deem the reliance on the Archives acceptable. I mean, it is my namesake after all.
THE VERDICT — 9.3/10
It would be criminal to not allow my own bias towards Herrera’s personality and distinct style to shine through, but my bias is rooted in what I have already established as the core values of this blog, around mainly integrity and to eschew trends and instead create them. Carolina almost flawlessly followed what I consider to be a perfect show, aside from the single unfavorable color clash and the excessive borrowing from the past instead of focusing on the future. The recreations of past patterns were interesting to see, and I particularly liked the addition of feather boas as the trim onto the earlier pieces. Even the ruffles were pristine!
