Creating Culture: Fashion-Forward

Beauty, elegance and design converge with Carolina Herrera creative director, Wes Gordon 

Keeping true to its promise since 1982, global luxury fashion brand Carolina Herrera has stylishly infused beauty and chic design into the lives of Herrera women worldwide. Founded by Carolina Herrera, the designer’s namesake brand is best known for its mix of sophistication and quintessential American elegance — an iconic presence in the fashion industry for more than four decades. 

In 2018, the beloved designer handed over the creative direction of Carolina Herrera to American designer Wes Gordon. Frontdoors had the honor of sitting down with the luxury brand’s creative director as he showcased Carolina Herrera’s fashions during Fresh Start’s Annual Gala, presented by Neiman Marcus.

Destined to share his creativity with the world since he was a child, Gordon talked about his fashion journey, what it means to serve as the creative director of a legendary global brand, and how beauty continues to inform all aspects of his life. 

Setting the tone and image for the world of Herrera is Gordon’s overarching job. For him, Herrera is not just a brand but a living, breathing world of elegance — one that he is tasked with reinterpreting for the next generation, while staying true to its essence.

For Gordon, beauty is not just about aesthetics, but an enduring world woven through every detail. “With every decision, it’s a brushstroke in the overall painting and world that is Herrera. It is my job to understand what Herrera was yesterday, what it is now and what it will be tomorrow,” he said. He visualizes his work as “chapters in the same book” versus collections with a beginning and an end, where above all, details matter. 

“At the smallest, it ranges from the buttons on the shirt, to the shirt, to the fabric, to the color, to what the label looks like, what the store looks like, to what our packaging looks like, to a model in a campaign — it’s making a lot of decisions where every one adheres to the identity and future of the house,” he said.

Gordon’s love for beauty began as an adolescent. Raised in Atlanta, he played dress-up, colored, created and played with his mom’s childhood Barbies long before he knew fashion was an industry. 

Clothes always had a magnetism, drawing the designer into the world of aesthetics. Gordon’s parents were (and still are) unconditionally supportive of their son’s interests, encouraging him at home and through high school, where the designer learned the art of sewing. After graduating, Gordon moved to London to attend Central Saint Martins, which designers he revered had attended.

Moving back to the States after college, Gordon put down roots in New York City, starting a collection of his own, aptly named Wes Gordon, and making positive waves in the industry as a young designer. Seven years later, he got a call from Carolina Herrera’s president, asking Gordon to consult for the brand. After working with and learning from Herrera herself, a friendship and deep trust organically developed between the famed designer and Gordon, leading to his appointment as creative director for the fashion house in 2018. Foundationally, both designers share similar values, predominately being romantic about the idea of beauty and elegance, leading to a natural progression for the company and the young designer’s career. 

Gordon draws inspiration for his work by living life to its fullest. An idea sparked by a detail in a painting, a screenshot from a film, a line from a book, the brilliant colors of the Southwestern desert — elements like these can connect and lead to a theme that is carried throughout a Carolina Herrera collection.

While some collections include more than 200 pieces, the designer’s creative process consistently begins with a color palette. “I’m in love with color — getting the tones right. What is the red? What is the pink? Then going from there,” he said. According to Gordon, dressing clients from London to Mexico City to Phoenix to New York is less about climate and more about creating a “pretty thing, always.”  

Gordon’s Chalet collection for the Herrera woman at high altitudes is teeming with “pretty things.” Color, texture and glamour intersect with tweeds, knits and dramatic silhouettes, giving Herrera lovers a multitude of options for winter wardrobes and events. 

Forward-thinking, Gordon advises aspiring designers to take their work seriously while exploring what is true and unique to them. “There is no greater privilege than having the opportunity to imagine, sketch, design something and have the resources around you to watch it come to life.”

To learn more, visit carolinaherrera.com.