Carolina Herrera CH Eau de Toilette 200ml

CAROLINA HERRERA-‘My original idea had been to design a few fabrics. Diana (a family friend) said: “Are you sure, because clothes would be much more fun”. Encouraged by her mentor, she had 20 dresses run up by her dressmaker, and moved – with her second husband, Renaldo Herrera, and their daughters – to New York, although they’ve shuttled back and forth ever since. ‘At first they thought I was a dilettante and I’d be gone in three seasons.’ And here she still is. What’s more, Carolina Herrera (pictured here in a wonderful illustration by David Downton) has since received countless honours from the industry – including the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year and an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2012. Born into an old Venezuelan family who’d lived in that country for 400 years, Carolina Herrera grew up in Caracas in the 50s and 60s. As she’s been quoted as saying, ‘Everyone was very, very chic. You either went to Paris for your clothes, or you had them made in Caracas. And I would like women to feel they could be glamorous and elegant.’ Her designs appeal to many different generations of women. As she has explained, ‘They are very feminine, not too avant-garde. It has to be sophisticated, it has to be easy-to-wear – and not too trendy.’ Her own super-stylish look is almost a ‘uniform’: big skirts, tailored skirts, mannish trousers. (Enabling her to get ready for even the grandest ‘do’ in under 10 minutes!)