Carolina Herrera (Carolina Pacanins Niño de Herrera Guevara). Born in Caracas,
Venezuela in 1939, she is a
fashion designer
and entrepreneur who founded her eponymous
company in 1980 with great success. Based
in New York since 1981, Herrera managed
to qualify, throughout the 1970s and 1980s
as one of the best dressed women in the
world. Her empire grew so rapidly and steadily
since its creation that she went on to dress
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for the last
twelve years of her life. She is married
to Venezuelan socialite Reinaldo Herrera
Guevara, son of fashion icon Mara Teresa (Mim) Guevara Pietrantoni de Herrera Uslar,
by whom she had two daughters. She was previously
married to Guillermo Behrens Tello, bearing
him two daughters as well.
From 1965 to 1968, she worked for friend Emilio Pucci, a Florentine Marquess
himself, in his Caracas boutique. After marrying Reinaldo, she assumed a
jet-set lifestyle, regularly purchasing the latest styles from Yves Saint
Laurent, Ungaro, Valentino, Walter Albini, Mila Schon, Zandra Rhodes and
Armani. Frequently associating with the likes of Mick and Bianca Jagger and
Andy Warhol, at Studio 54 and worldwide hot-spots, she became well-known for
her impeccable and dramatic style. She first appeared on the International
Best Dressed List in 1972, then was elected to its Hall of Fame in 1980.
That year, her friend Diana Vreeland, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue suggested
that Carolina design a clothing line. She did so, having samples made in
Caracas, and showed them in a friend's apartment in New York. A well known
Park Avenue boutique, Martha's, agreed to showcase her clothing in their
prominent windows. Upon this initial success, she returned to Caracas and
raised capital to fund a more formal launch. Her first runway show in 1980
included future supermodel Iman.
The company has been based in New York City since 1980, and in 1981 the
brand received recognition from several key publications, including Women's
Wear Daily and Tatler, with particular early attention to her well designed
sleeves. A few of her most notable clients have included Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis, who asked her to design the dress for her daughter Caroline's
wedding, Duchess Diana de Melo, and actress Renée Zellweger. In the late
1980s, Spanish fragrance company Puig licensed the Carolina Herrera name to
develop and market a line of perfumes. In 1995, the firm acquired the
Carolina Herrara fashion business, retaining her as Creative Director. In
2008, they launched a ready-to-wear brand called CH Carolina Herrera; as of
2012, there are 18 Carolina Herrera and CH Carolina Herrera boutiques in the
world, and her lines are carried in 280 stores in 104 countries. As of
2011, her daughters Carolina Jr. and Patricia Lansing participate in the
creative direction and design.
Carolina Herrera Collections
Carolina Herrera Fall Fashion
Carolina Herrera Fashion Week
Carolina Herrera News
Carolina Herrera Profiles
Carolina Herrera Runway
Carolina Herrera Spring Fashion