On the eve of Fashion Week, top designer Carolina Herrera has slammed regular New Yorkers for “horrendous” style, and lamented that the common citizenry’s appearance has hit a slovenly all-time low.
“If you look at the people walking around the streets of New York at this moment, it is horrendous!” the fashionista who’s dressed Amy Adams, Sandra Bullock, Allison Williams, Renée Zellweger and Michelle Obama exclaims. “I have never seen people so badly dressed in my life! It’s amazing the way they look! I don’t know why … I don’t know what’s going on … but it’s really, really bad.”
The New York designer’s complaint appears in Haute Living’s September fashion issue.
The worst fashion offense? Crop tops on those who should cover up.
“When you are very young and you have a wonderful figure you can pull it off,” Herrera says of bare midriffs, “but whenever I see this style, it’s usually on the wrong person.”
She adds: “I was sitting in traffic this morning looking at the people on the street, and I thought … ‘What’s going on here?’ Everybody is wearing the wrong clothes. Proportion is very important. Wear clothes that are flattering to your figure and appropriate for your personality.”
She further told interviewer Jennifer Kamm, “You have to dress to flatter your body. You don’t have to dress a certain way because fashion is saying that you have to wear miniskirts. Some people don’t have the legs — or the age.”
So who does look good? “Ms. Obama … knows how to dress for her figure.” And late client Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. (“Everything she did, she did it with her own incredible style. She was the epitome of elegance.”)
But the legendary Herrera, who’s being honored by FIT’s Couture Council on Wednesday, seems to be hardest on herself.
“I love seeing my designs come down the runway, but I am never satisfied,” she admits. “I always say, ‘It could have been better.’ But I think that’s a very good sign because it’s a challenge — to do it better and better all the time.”
She shows her latest collection on Monday.