Trends, as Carolina Herrera observed in her showroom today, don’t and should not drive the bridal market. A wedding is a single, momentous, and ceremonial occasion that demands something out of the ordinary. “I think the old-fashioned in bridal is very important,” says designer, who has dressed some very famous brides indeed. She knows from experience that brides who start out talking about “cool” or “edgy” wedding attire often change their tune after trying on a romantic gown—the designer’s trademark.
Chez Herrera, invention flourishes within the boundaries of tradition and ceremony. Floral touches appeared throughout the Fall 2018 collection, which included both white-on-white embellishments and more colorful ones. A light-as-butterfly-wings dress featured emerald-and-white embroidery in a pattern that might have been inspired by an 18th-century men’s waistcoat; more directional was an embroidered gown that was yoked to emphasize a handspan waist. If there was something a little bit country about that blush-color number, a strapless guipure lace gown with a removable high-necked capelet was the height of simple sophistication. Apart from one dress with a multitiered tulle skirt, which borrowed its silhouette from the designer’s Spring 2018 prêt-à-porter line, the rest of the collection was clean-lined.
While she appreciates the fantasy element of bridal planning and designing, Mrs. Herrera doesn’t neglect the practical. A bow-tied wrap dress, for example, had pockets. Pretty sleeves, a house specialty, added feminine flutter to another dress, whose look changed entirely with the addition of a wide “something blue” belt. “It’s about poetry, it’s about love,” Herrera said, and she really meant it. The designer prefaced her show notes with lines selected from Lord Byron’s poem “She Walks in Beauty.” And lyrical is, in fact, just the right word to describe her latest dream dresses.
