Herrera, born in Caracas, Venezuela, descends from a long line of Venezuelan landowners and statesman. The designer is animated in her affection for her parents, Guillemmo and Maria Cristina Pacanins, admitting that she is “spoiled as far as men's looks are concerned” because her father was so dashing. She refers with love to her mother's “cultivated aura.” “She was very strict, but not in a loud way,” Herrera adds. “There was a time and a place for everything. I have carried that with me all my life.”
That noble sensibility, combined with a slightly wicked charm, enabled Herrrera to make the transition from her halcyon days as a chic and renowned beauty on the international scene--where she spent days with royals and nights with the Warhol crowd--to a designer with such talent and business acumen that she could not be ignored. After receiving a positive reaction to a fashion collection she created in 1980 as “a test,” she moved with her family to New York from Caracas in 1981 and formed Carolina Herrera, Ltd. Her exquisitely detailed, expertly crafted creations were immediately in demand by specialty stores, and chic, sophisticated women the world-over turned to Herrera's label for the type of impeccable suits, dresses and gowns she instinctively knew how to design--the legacy of having grown up in a world where women wore only couture.
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