On Thursday, Carolina Herrera unveiled its fall 2026 collection in a presentation that featured prominent women from the art world as models. Included in the New York fashion week show were painter Amy Sherald; photographer Ming Smith; painter and actress Anh Duong; sculptor Rachel Feinstein and her daughter, Flora Currin; performance artist and painter Eliza Douglas; and gallerist Hannah Traore of the eponymous Hannah Traore Gallery.
The women were selected to walk in the show by the brand’s creative director, Wes Gordon, who succeeded Carolina Herrera when she stepped down in 2018. According to Gordon, his latest collection was inspired by the women who have shaped the landscape of art. “This collection really began with some people I admire. A community of women artists, muses, gallerists, curators, collectors whose work I’ve followed and learned from over time—women who shape culture,” said Gordon in a video shared to the brand’s Instagram.
The show was held in New York’s Meatpacking District in a skylit venue adorned with handpainted murals from painter and set designer Sarah Oliphant. Her geometric compositions in dusty hues of yellow, sky blue, red, and baby pink drew inspiration from the collection, and were intended to evoke the feeling of being at an artist’s atelier.
Images of American collector Peggy Guggenheim and her avant-garde style were on Gordon’s moodboard, as were works by painter Agnes Martin, sculptor and collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and artist and art dealer Betty Parsons.
This season was a tribute to the brand’s Women in the Arts program, an initiative that supports women’s voices in the arts across multiple disciplines. The program provides a platform for these artists by offering education and training opportunities, staging and supporting exhibitions, donating funds and materials, and inviting artists to collaborate with the fashion house on shows and campaigns.
