Four and a Half Decades of Elegance: Carolina Herrera Marks Anniversary with Joy and Expansion

This year represents two significant milestones for the Carolina Herrera brand: the completion of 45 years since its founding and a decade of success for its signature Good Girl fragrance.

The festivities, reaching their crescendo with creative director Wes Gordon's spring 2027 presentation on Monday evening at the David H. Koch Theater, unfold against a backdrop of expanding retail presence, with recent openings in Miami and La Jolla, California, alongside efforts to broaden the product range. The company has introduced a more extensive selection of everyday pieces, featuring Herrera denim, and increased its offerings in handbags and jewelry.

Throughout the year, the label has established a temporary retail presence in the Hamptons and collaborated with Net-a-porter on an exclusive collection, marked by a train-to-luncheon event in London during summer months. Following several seasons of runway presentations in international cities such as Madrid, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro, the brand has chosen to return to New York for this landmark anniversary celebration.

Speaking to the company's evolution, Herrera president Emilie Rubinfeld reflected on the brand's trajectory: "The evolution of Carolina Herrera from Carolina Herrera herself [who founded the company in 1981 before stepping aside in 2018], the founder, to Wes Gordon, our creative director — reflecting on that and all that has transpired in these 45 years, and where we are today, stronger than ever is a deeply satisfying place to be as we look at the future."

Financial performance has been robust, with the brand experiencing double-digit revenue growth during the opening six months of 2026, outpacing the 4.4 percent comparable growth recorded across parent company Puig's portfolio. This momentum stems from Puig's initiative to better integrate each brand's fashion and fragrance operations, an approach recently discussed by Ana Trias, Puig's fashion and fragrance president.

Gordon, who earned a nomination this month for women's designer of the year at the CFDA Awards, shares enthusiasm about the brand's current standing. He believes that Herrera, beloved across the globe, belongs among the select circle of storied New York fashion houses worthy of recognition for their enduring presence in the industry.

"I've definitely grown in my confidence as a designer, I've strengthened my clarity and point of view as a designer, and I think it's an interesting thing to succeed a founder at a house because it's a bit of a balance between respecting the founder's legacy, design work and point of view, while also allowing oneself to create and grow and design," Gordon reflected on his eight years guiding the house. "Now I can say that I feel like I really do do that. I have an innate respect for the house and Mrs. Herrera that I don't need to force or fake with each collection. It's there. It's a part of who I am, and I'm able to design and make decisions without tension or struggle with whether it's right for the brand because I know that it is."

The creative director maintains a meaningful connection with Herrera herself, though it remains entirely separate from the business or design decisions. "We do not talk about it. It's amazing on her part because it takes a lot of strength and courage. The first time she sees the collection is when she's seated at the show. There's no advance preview. There's no texting of pictures," he shared. "We chat when we have dinner, but it's about fun topics. She loves our kids [he and his husband Paul Arnhold have two children]. It's a very beautiful friendship."

Adding to the milestone moments, Gordon celebrated his 40th birthday this year. When reflecting on how these anniversaries and the passage of time shape his creative process, he emphasized their influence: "One hundred percent."

"I am so lucky to have joy in my life and fullness in my life, and I think happy people make happy clothes. I think it's impossible to create something, whether it's a painting, architecture or even a dress, that feels light and joyful if the creator is not also," Gordon observed, a sentiment evident in his collections, which continue to exude beauty and joy. His most formative personal experiences have unfolded during his tenure at Herrera—essentially spanning almost all of his thirties.

"I remember rushing out of a fitting to fly to Las Vegas to get married. I remember waiting for our son to be born while watching on FaceTime a look book shoot happening. A lot of my life milestones and growth are interwoven with my time at Herrera, and it's something that's really special," he recalled.

Since Gordon arrived at the company in 2018, Rubinfeld has observed his considerable development as the brand has flourished. She notes that the role demands much more than design excellence alone—today's creative director must excel across multiple creative disciplines.

"It's not enough to just be a very strong designer who can create incredible collections that resonate with the consumer, but the designer has to be talented in so many creative ways. When we talk about the expansion of our retail footprint, Wes has really been part of that journey. Whether it's in crafting the concept for the store, to being present and being a partner in the storytelling of the new store. He's done an incredible job in being able to take his creativity and manifest it in so many key strategic ways that really support the business," Rubinfeld said.

The president expressed particular confidence in retail expansion as a cornerstone strategy, emphasizing that physical locations—whether newly developed or long-established—provide the ideal setting for expressing a unified brand narrative. These spaces enable clients to fully immerse themselves in the Herrera universe, encountering "whether it's a great day dress or a fabulous clutch, jewelry, makeup, fragrance, sunglasses. It's really all there, and we just love this idea of, you know, dressing a woman from head to toe."

Looking ahead, the brand plans to debut a new location in Atlanta at Phipps Plaza during the summer of 2027—a particularly resonant project, as Gordon spent his formative years in that city.

While the United States remains the priority for retail development, Herrera continues to maintain a strong international business presence. The company collaborates with major wholesale partners including Selfridges, Harrods, Net-a-porter and comparable retailers. Rubinfeld highlighted that the company has long cultivated connections with consumers in the Middle East.

"We're excited because now many of our international partners are participating in the new bag category. We're very much excited to be dressing those international clients in the ready-to-wear expression of our brand and now with accessories," she noted.

These developments signal considerable growth potential ahead. The typical Carolina Herrera patron seeks the brand for refined occasion pieces and that distinctive Upper East Side sophistication, yet Gordon is extending the offering beyond its foundation in ready-to-wear, developing comprehensive accessories that allow a woman to be styled entirely in the brand. This includes reimagining "conventional thought of what is evening, what is day, and what is just Herrera, where you look fabulous," Rubinfeld explained, specifically highlighting her personal favorite—the small fan-shaped Consuelo leather bag, a versatile piece equally at home for morning or evening occasions.

Gordon emphasizes that as both retail and complete dressing capabilities expand, clients increasingly seek meaningful emotional resonance, artistry, and authenticity in their shopping experiences and clothing selections, particularly as artificial intelligence plays an expanding role. He is dedicated to seizing opportunities across every aspect of the organization, developing purposeful pieces that dress women of varying generations.

"Personally, I am the most invigorated and inspired the more things I get to be involved with, and the more new things I get to learn about and explore. So whether that's in beauty, in fragrance, in eyewear, in the stores, I love it. I love to look at something and figure out how it can be improved," he expressed. "It's a very exciting time at Herrera that we're experiencing such growth. With each one, we have learnings from the past one, but really memorializing these brand codes and making them concrete, and creating these beautiful worlds where all these different products that Herrera produces can live together."

The brand remains unwavering in its commitment to the foundational aesthetic that Carolina Herrera established four and a half decades ago—one that Gordon has continuously refined. His spring 2027 collection centers squarely on the Ladies Who Lunch sensibility. However, Gordon clarifies that the contemporary Herrera customer transcends age, location, or body type, instead representing a particular mindset and temperament. She gravitates toward pieces that embody femininity, rich color palettes, and dramatic prints that project an air of refined elegance.

"She's a leader, brave and confident, and "just like Mrs. Herrera, she's the one kind of standing in the middle of the room at the party. She's not a wallflower, and she comes to us for a fantastic pink dress that five years later someone will remember when they recall that party," he said.

He noted that Monday's collection will put this front and center through a "celebration of all things Herrera," drawing on elements from the brand's very first show along with nods to the '80s and Park Avenue. Picture ruffles, shoulders, polka dots, flowers, glamour, flowers and an abundance of joyful clothes and accessories covering lifestyle and occasionwear. "We try to make clothes that make you feel good and feel beautiful, and this show is all of that with exclamation marks," Gordon said.

Over the years he has served as creative director, he's outfitted many famous figures; Gordon noted that dressing celebrities isn't his primary design goal, yet he remains thankful for and enthusiastic about such chances.

"Since we're a house that creates a lot of fabulous, special, beautiful pieces, for 45 years we've had the opportunity to and privilege to dress some of the world's most famous, recognizable women," he said. Among the most recent is Pamela Anderson, who appeared at the Venice Film Festival wearing a wool pencil skirt and chiffon blouse paired with the brand's popular abstract fan-shaped handbag, forming a two-piece ensemble. According to Gordon, this outfit reflected three elements he has long enjoyed amplifying within the label: vibrant color, separates and accessories.

Asked to name the most iconic Herrera look, Rubinfeld pointed to simply donning the brand itself, describing the feeling as iconic, whereas Gordon pointed instead to Herrera's signature white shirt, a piece he reworks with new touches every season, presumably including his spring runway. A large celebration is planned for the show, with an after party afterward in which the company will bring back to life a beloved haunt of the Ladies Who Lunch set: the former Mortimer's restaurant on the Upper East Side.

"When it comes to the show, it's my favorite part about being in this industry because it's really the manifestation of all the hard work from the team. I can see in a show all the team members who touch something as part of this process," Rubinfeld said. "Not only is it the clothes — Wes and his design team did an incredible job — but you have our [New York] atelier and the team that does incredible work, and we're really excited because everyone's coming. All of our employees are coming to the show, and I'm just excited to see their faces when they see the clothes and when they see the show. I always get teary because the Carolina brand, for that moment in time, is in the center of the fashion universe. I'm really grateful for that."