published 12 February 2025

Fashion never exists in a vacuum. The industry routinely borrows from art, literature, architecture, sports, film, and basically every other field you can imagine. Wes Gordon, for one, is no stranger to a cultural reference. This season, he had two very specific inspirations while designing Carolina Herrera's F/W 25 collection: The 1979 movie Being There and a painting from French artist Sonia Delaunay called Rhythm Color. The former influenced the collection's florals, and the latter served as the foundation for the color palette.

"Being There is one of my favorite films and the starting point of this collection," Gordon explained in the show notes. "I was thinking about that moment in the garden just after the rain. There is a pureness to Chance the gardener that informed this collection—a distilled sense of beauty. The thought of tending to our wardrobes the way he would tend to his garden—meticulously, with thoughtful care. Being there." Isn't that sweet? It's hard to imagine New York Fashion Week without Wes Gordon.

Looking through the collection, I was struck by the intricately detailed craftsmanship. Scroll down to explore my four favorite details from Carolina Herrera's F/W 25 collection.

Gold Metal Tulips

A cobalt-blue dress. A pinstripe maxi coat. A cozy turtleneck sweater. How do you make these disparate items feel cohesive? Well, if you're Gordon, you add a gold metal tulip brooch. The gilded accents elevated many of the looks in the fall/winter 2025 collection. Suddenly, my wardrobe doesn't feel complete without a Carolina Herrera tulip. This detail ties in nicely with the brooch trend we've been seeing for a few seasons that has continued at NYFW this month.

Model on the Carolina Herrera fall/winter 2025 runway.

Handmade Silk Rosettes

Gordon explained in the show notes that the silk rosettes were handmade "one by one." Some of the looks boasted singular rosettes at the hips, but one dress blossomed with half a dozen flowers at the neck. I particularly enjoyed the all-black outfit punctuated with beautiful blue silk.

Sequins

Carolina Herrera has long been a fixture on red carpets. This season, Gordon presented a slew of sequin dresses that are destined to end up at movie premieres, film festivals, and award shows. Will an A-lister wear the electric-blue sequin column dress at the Oscars? Only time will tell!

Lace

Last but certainly not least, the delicate lace embroidery was another one of my favorite details from the show. I certainly loved the dresses, but I was particularly intrigued by the lace separates. I've never seen a cardigan look so chic! Gordon is a master of color, but as it turns out, he's equally as skilled at working with black and white.

Erin got her start as a Who What Wear intern in 2011—back when the site only published a single story per day. (We have since increased that number twentyfold.) She graduated magna cum laude from USC and lives in Los Angeles. In college, she also interned at Refinery29, where she was promoted to editorial assistant and then assistant editor. After nearly three years at R29, she came back to WWW in 2015, where she is now the Associate Director of Fashion News. From the Oscars to the Met Gala, she leads the site's entire red carpet coverage strategy. She specializes in celebrity and fashion news but also enjoys writing travel features and runway reports. She frequently contributes to WWW's social accounts and has a sizable following on her personal TikTok.