Story by Editor-at-Large CAROLINA OGLIARO
Carolina Herrera’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection in Madrid felt like a breath held in beauty, a moment where past and present collided with both poetry and bravado. Wes Gordon, at the core of Herrera’s vision, turned Plaza Mayor into more than a runway: under the night sky of a city that pulses with history, the house unveiled what may be its most emotional statement yet. This was the first time the main collection premiered outside New York, and the choice of Madrid, a city steeped in Golden Age drama, the 80s rebellion of La Movida, Flores of Retiro, and the scent of violet candy, was never incidental. It was in the DNA of the show.
Look after look, Herrera built a world of rich textures and bold juxtapositions. Embroideries of carnations, roses, and violets, some three-dimensional, bloomed over shoulders and skirts; lattice lace and mantilla-inspired details paid homage to Spanish craft. Silhouettes were expressive: sculpted jackets echoing matador bravado; sleeves riffing on chulapa shapes; capes that draped like flamenco’s swirl. And then the color: Herrera red sat next to blazing fuchsia and violet; deep burgundy softened by powdered pink; flashes of citrus yellow breaking through dark black. All of it held together in a harmony of energy, tradition, and unabashed femininity.
Yet what moved beyond aesthetics was the emotional architecture of the moment. This was storytelling in form. The location, the culture, the collaborators, the historic cape-makers, the glass artisans, the Spanish designers reinterpreting Herrera’s signature white shirt, all spoke of a house reaching outward, embracing roots, and offering inclusion. The fragrance “La Bomba” was launched in tandem, sealing the night with scent as memory.
What Herrera SS26 in Madrid tells us is that glamour isn’t fading, but it’s evolving. It lives where culture meets couture, where heritage is allowed to breathe, to be questioned, and reborn. This collection is not just one of Herrera’s most beautiful, but may be one of her most honest: a love letter to Madrid and perhaps a promise of what beauty can be when it stops asking apologies and starts choosing resonance.
