Carolina Herrera Fall/Winter 2026 at New York Fashion Week

Carolina Herrera Fall/Winter 2026 / FW26 at New York Fashion Week

For Fall/Winter 2026, Carolina Herrera draws inspiration from a community of women, past and present, whose work and influence have shaped the landscape of art. Whether artists or muses, patrons, gallerists, curators or collectors, they lead lives of bold self-expression, talent, and style. Wes Gordon approaches this season as a tribute to this creative power and has invited several of these women to walk the show on February 12 in New York’s meatpacking district.

For FW26 / Fall/Winter 2026, Carolina Herrera do a collaboration with this group includes:

Painter Amy Sherald, whose portraits are defined by a singular visual language, cool tonal fields and precise composition that reframe American realism on her own terms. Her work centers black subjects with quiet authority, shifting the familiar into something newly seen. Her most celebrated work includes the official portrait of Michelle Obama for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Anh Duong, the French American artist recognized for a long running self portrait practice that uses painting as a diary like record of personal experience and identity.

Photographer Ming Smith, the first female African American photographer to have her work acquired by Moma, whose pioneering use of blur, light and atmosphere moves beyond documentary to capture African American life with poetic intimacy.

Sculptor Rachel Feinstein, based in Brooklyn, known for baroque, fantasy leaning works that remix art history and spectacle through immersive, museum scale installations. She most recently exhibited at the bass museum in Miami, where she and gordon hosted a dinner and panel together.

Flora Currin, Feinstein’s daughter, who embodies the figure of the muse and serves as a source of inspiration to both Feinstein and her husband, painter John Currin.

Eliza Douglas, a new york based painter and model whose work challenges conventional notions of gender and identity through abstract and figurative forms.

Gallerist Hannah Traore, founder of Hannah Traore gallery on New York’s lower east side, whose program centers on emerging and underrepresented artists, with a focus on contemporary photography, painting and conceptual practice.

Carolina Herrera FW26 / Fall/Winter 2026 collection imagines women in motion, creating and moving through the world with conviction.

Strength and volume appear in exaggerated shoulders, cocoon coats, puff sleeve blazers and streamlined pencil skirts. These assertive forms are balanced by a practical, lived-in ease that echoes the rhythm of an artist’s day. The crisp Herrera button down is reimagined as an artist’s smock, relaxed in spirit and rendered in black and white. Silk faille capes recall Peggy Guggenheim’s eclectic personal style and sense of movement, a recurring source of inspiration this season.

Color sharpens the proposition with a palette of ceramic nude, forest green, plum, celeste blue and chili red that temper discipline with emotion. House codes return through print: bold leopard jacquard, painterly calla lily motifs, and poppy florals rendered on organza. The Carolina Herrera fragrance good girl shoe motif appears as an all over hand-drawn print of the iconic perfume bottle, marking the fragrance’s ten-year anniversary with a note of wit.

Evening enters through glittering paillette knits and luminous gold coats and dresses, constructed from individual rectangular sequins that recall the muted gold tones of artist Agnes Martin’s friendship, a 1963 work emblematic of her restrained, meditative practice.

For Carolina Herrera FW26 / Fall/Winter 2026, Wes Gordon continues his exploration of sculptural purity and architectural simplicity in handbags. Signature styles like the mimi and karlita return. The mimi is reimagined with an all-over black-and-white graphic leopard print, alongside a refined bow detail at the strap, offered in plum purple, black, and forest green. The karlita, the season’s ideal evening bag, is rendered in the collection’s palette and includes a striking chili red. Statement jewelry completes the narrative, with calla lily brooches and bold gold necklaces and earrings.

The show reflects the philosophy behind the Carolina Herrera for women in the arts initiative, a platform through which the house supports women working across various artistic disciplines. Carolina Herrera began designing because another woman believed in her —Diana Vreeland recognized her instinct and encouraged her to pursue it. That tradition of creative recognition continues today through scholarships in partnership with institutions such as FIT (Fashion Institute Of Technology) and NABA (Nuova Accademia Di Belle Arti) in Milan and Rome, Italy, as well as support for exhibitions including maestras at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, Spain, alongside projects in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Mexico, and the UK.

About Carolina Herrera, is an international fashion and beauty house recognized for its colorful, joyful and confident take on life. Founded in 1981 by Carolina Herrera, the eponymous label’s scope has steadily grown and now includes ready-to-wear clothing and accessories for women, men, and children, as well as bridal wear, fragrances, and makeup. The house’s fragrance adventure began in 1988 with the launch of Carolina Herrera’s first eau de parfum. In 1996, Mrs. Herrera’s daughter, Carolina A. Herrera, joined the company for the launch of 212 and was appointed to the role of beauty creative director in 2020. Today, she leads a division that comprises over 20 fragrances with a presence in more than 120 countries worldwide – including the Herrera confidential collection, CH, Bad Boy, La Bomba and the wildly successful Good Girl and 212 – and is also responsible for the brand’s first-ever makeup line, Herrera Beauty. A quintessentially New York brand, the house of Herrera is defined by its three lines: helmed by creative director Wes Gordon, Carolina Herrera New York embodies the fearless & fabulous women of today who aren’t afraid to stand out in style. CH Carolina Herrera portrays a bold, solar and free-spirited approach to fashion and beauty. Finally, 212 Carolina Herrera is aligned with the fresh energy of young new yorkers who live for parties and shared experiences. Known for embracing elegance with a touch of irreverence, the brand’s fashion and beauty collections reflect the iconic style and effortless sophistication inherent to its founder, Carolina Herrera.