Carolina Herrera Perfumes

About Carolina Herrera:

Carolina Herrera (born January 8, 1939) is a Venezuelan-American fashion designer known for “exceptional personal style”, and dressing First Ladies from Jacqueline Onassis to Michelle Obama. The New York Times cited her designs as “elegant and worldly without ever being fussy”. From 1965 to 1968, she worked for friend Emilio Pucci, a Florentine Marquess himself, in his Caracas boutique. After marrying Reinaldo Herrera Guevara in 1968, she assumed a jet-set lifestyle, regularly purchasing the latest styles from Yves Saint Laurent, Ungaro, Valentino, Walter Albini, Mila Schon, Zandra Rhodes and Armani. Frequently associating with the likes of Mick and Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol, at Studio 54 and worldwide hot-spots, she became well-known for her impeccable and dramatic style. She first appeared on the International Best Dressed List in 1972, then was elected to its Hall of Fame in 1980. That year, her friend Diana Vreeland, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue suggested that Carolina design a clothing line. She did so, having samples made in Caracas, and showed them in a friend’s apartment in New York. A well known Park Avenue boutique, Martha’s, agreed to showcase her clothing in their prominent windows. Upon this initial success, she returned to Caracas and raised capital to fund a more formal launch. Her first runway show in 1980 included future supermodel Iman. The company has been based in New York City since 1980, and in 1981 the brand received recognition from several key publications, including Women’s Wear Daily and Tatler, with particular early attention to her well designed sleeves. A few of her most notable clients have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who asked her to design the dress for her daughter Caroline’s wedding, Duchess Diana de Melo, and actress Renée Zellweger. In the late 1980s, Spanish fragrance company Puig licensed the Carolina Herrera name to develop and market a line of perfumes. In 1995, the firm acquired the Carolina Herrara fashion business, retaining her as Creative Director. In 2008, they launched a ready-to-wear brand called CH Carolina Herrera; as of 2012, there are 18 Carolina Herrera and CH Carolina Herrera boutiques in the world, and her lines are carried in 280 stores in 104 countries. As of 2011, her daughters Carolina Jr. and Patricia Lansing participate in the creative direction and design.