Simply Abu Dhabi XI

C aroline Herrera is – and always has been – all about old school glamour and romance. She shuns social media and fashion circles and opted to commission a musical score (TomHodge and producer Javier Peral, for those that want to listen in) for her catwalk soundtrack, contrasted with the usual DJ mixed soundtracks. Carolina does it Carolina’s way. And that is surely the independent, feisty spirit that you want from a designer. Now aged 74, the Venezuelan-American designer eschews popularist trends and challenges you instead to join her elegant, urbane world. It’s the world she grew up in, the daughter of an American air force officer, granddaughter of a fashion-loving socialite and later wife of a titled Vanity Fair Editor. Carolina is worldly, jet set and eminently upper crust. She has rubbed shoulders with stars, counting Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol and Diana Vreeland as friends. All this is reflected in a beautiful new line of clothes. This season she has channelled 1940s sirens, predominantly in red, black and midnight blue, to create a sophisticated stream of elegant, wearable dresses. She has created new prints for autumn-winter: an abstract houndstooth and urchin and dahlia patterns. It’s not simply a modern interpretation of the flower print silk dresses that dominated the era – there are sharp stylistic tangents. Colours and prints were subdued but stately, enhancing without overshadowing the overall look. By day she recommends straight silhouettes, meticulously tailored and enhanced with lace, feathers, peplum accents and transparent panels. Tweed coats combine with waisted and pleated skirts and pussy-bow blouses; silk fitted dresses are almost laser-tailored to precision; the trouser suit, staple of the gentleman’s wardrobe in the Forties, is reengineered for the female form to breathtaking effect, all flowing trousers and sharp tailoring. Accessories are key. Broad leather belts shape waists; leather gloves hint at old-school etiquette; sleek bags slide over the elbow to carry feminine essentials; clusters of bronze, grey and silver gems add sparkle at the ear. By night, it’s all about volume. Huge fur shrugs, puffed sleeves, sparkle, lace, elbow-length gloves, Oriental necklines – something also hinted at in side-tie details. Dresses are delicately adorned with buttons, cut-outs and buttons. Capes and fur-trimmed coats are designed to stave off the cold New York winters. Herrera’s women live for occasions, an understanding reflected in the collection. Universally the catwalk models wore their hair in chic, wartime chignons. It’s in the allusions to the lingerie underneath and military uniforms that we find the collection’s zest. Strong shoulders with embroidered epaulets, waists cinched with airman-style fur-padded belts, panels of jacquard inserted into a waistline to give the appearance of a garter belt. The popularity of the UK’s ‘Downton Abbey’ period television show and the mass obsession with the impeccable costumes that were featured in it dovetails nicely with Herrera’s latest collection. Slim, modern silhouettes merge with classic lines, slightly puffed sleeves, delicate details and structured panels. Just looking at these clothes makes you improve your deportment. This was an era of good manners, glamour, post-war Epicureanism, champagne dishes, and refinement. An era before red carpets, skinny jeans, reality TV, Cristal and Instagram. Yet in a world where vintage couture has resurged so comprehensively, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a designer has chosen to reinvent it. And we’re lucky that she has. Drawing on decades of experience and a lifelong passion for fashion, Herrera has created a collection that most women would dream of wearing, even straight from the catwalk, unusual in the age of boundary testing ‘fashion as art’. The clothes are feminine, refined, strong and sophisticated. Much, we imagine, like Herrera’s wearers. 1 4 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I