Carolina Herrera presented her Spring bridal collection in a salon dotted with wooden garden benches and scented with garlands and large urns filled with truly ginormous white hydrangeas. All this was to evoke the mood of a verdant country wedding, the season’s theme. “For me,” explained the designer, “the most important day in the life of a woman is her wedding, and it has to be romantic, it has to be feminine, it has to be ethereal, it has to be dreamy—it doesn’t have to be sexy.”
Herrera’s designs exude seduction subtly, as in a pleated wisp of a gown with lace underlay, a not-so-simple bias-cut slip, or a sleeveless gown with a shirt front and collar. Though hardly informal, Herrera’s dresses this season, in keeping with the theme, had a sense of ease—and pockets! The most elaborate number was a strapless gown with bands of delicately hand-embroidered hydrangea-like petals. “We have to keep the girls happy!” said a smiling Herrera after the enfilade.
Mixed among the dreamy gowns were several bridal ensembles; two were blouse and pant combinations. “I strongly believe in separates for weddings,” Herrera said, “that, for me, is the modern way of dressing the bride.” She called out one of our favorite looks: a tulle skirt paired with a formfitting sequined sweater. The opposite of a dress-to-impress confection, this ensemble is for a bride confident in her taste and with nothing to prove. A true Herrera bride, in other words.
