Fall 2004 ready-to-wear - Carolina Herrera Fall 2004 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

NEW YORK, February 9, 2004 – Like the jaunty theme song from The Triplets of Belleville that looped through the soundtrack, Carolina Herrera’s fall show had infectious charm to spare. With her design team boosted by creative director Hervé Pierre and her daughter Patricia Lansing, Herrera’s designs have taken a turn for the lighter—always refined and feminine, but with a new sense of color and craft.

The inspiration for this collection was Europe’s grand ski resorts, but don’t look to Herrera for performance fabrics. This was old-school luxury at its best: buttery cashmere and alpaca, bulky knits and soft leathers in warm wintry colors (brown, deep blue, wine, and black), lavishly embellished with sable, mink, ermine, and fox. She kept it fresh with trim, flirty cuts, like knee-length skirts that flared just below the hips, and such intriguing details as roughed-up edges, cascades of square-edge ruffles, and fabrics stamped with patches of gold leaf.

Herrera amped things up for evening, creating a series of showstoppers. She dropped a gold fox-fur stole around the neck of a jade-green silk dress; stitched ripped bits of blue chiffon to a gorgeous chocolate gown; crocheted cream-colored cashmere into a ball skirt; and scattered bugle beads across an alpine sweater. The slopes have never looked so inviting.

– Janet Ozzard

STYLE FILE