Designer Carolina Herrera

South, Carolina

HERRERA LAUNCHES STORE IN ORANGE COUNTY

COSTA MESA, Calif. (Nov. 27, 2006)--November has been New York designer Carolina Herrera’s month to go west. In one week, she held a party at her Los Angeles atelier, and opened the doors to her new CH Carolina Herrera boutique in South Coast Plaza in Orange County. “CH is my new baby project,” Herrera told WSAToday.com. “I love it!” She just opened two CH stores in Dubai; the South Coast store is the first in California, joining others in Las Vegas, New York and Texas. This new “lifestyle store” features apparel and accessories with a slightly more casual approach than the Carolina Herrera couture and atelier.

Flats from the spring/summer ’07 collection.

No matter which store format, Herrera designs for “the modern woman who is sophisticated, strong, confident, and active,” she said. “This is a woman who likes to be classic with a modern twist.” Her philosophy is to present entire outfits, yet allow the outfits to be broken up so the pieces can go with other elements in a woman’s wardrobe. “You can mix things. You can create your own look with different elements in the collection.”

Bucket hats can be collected in different colors.

The CH concept even mixes in men—the store includes men’s clothing, as well as a pool table for those who are shopping or waiting for others to shop. “The (Southern California) women are not jaded,” noted Herrera’s daughter, Carolina Herrera, Jr. “They are excited and want to buy.” The store’s setting evokes a comfortable home. “Once you go into the store, you are bound to come out with something because it’s all part of your life,” Herrera said.

In California, couture will be exclusive to the Carolina Herrera atelier on Melrose Place in West Hollywood. “It’s an experiment,” Herrera said. “That’s why I always say that haute couture cannot disappear. The haute couture is like a laboratory. Because the women who buy it don’t care about the prices, the experiment is fantastic.”

A silver CH bag from the spring/summer ’07 collection.

Herrera’s attention to detail goes right down to the design, color and fabrication of the shoes made by Manolo Blahnik for her runway collection. The shoes are not limited to just one outfit, “but what the collection looks like. Each pair of shoes is designed especially for that specific collection,” Herrera said.

Judith Leiber creates the minaudiere handbags and Nancy Gonzalez designs day bags, featuring fabrics with design adaptations of the seasonal collections. “Spring and summer clothing is lighter,” Herrera noted. “Handbags are softer with less structure and based on the materials that we use in the collection. Fall and winter shoes and handbags are more structured, which is in key with the season.”

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