Carolina Herrera rises, while Puig shares plummet

Last week, the shares of the Spanish luxury brand Puig plummeted on the Madrid market. On Monday, in New York, the group's most elegant brand, Carolina Herrera, soared with a grand collection that was staged in a somewhat ironic way on Wall Street.

“Just so beautiful,” said founder Herrera, sitting in the front row in a crisp gray wool pantsuit, surrounded by dozens of royal, well-heeled, super-coiffed clients.

A visual ode to form and silhouette, creative director Wes Gordon's latest collection for Carolina Herrera was one of the best for the house.

Her invitation was an exotic fish, and its colours ran throughout the collection: Carolina blue, Princeton orange and lemon yellow. But the key to the collection was the refined shapes: a cloud of fabric petals creating a floral bustier paired with flared tuxedo trousers; a divinely cut black calico dress with kimono shoulders; or a marvellous one-shoulder black silk dress worn over high heels inlaid with lace.

While Gordon’s sense of self-possession remains top-notch – a two-strap white guipure dress oozed class – Wes is truly the poet of polka dots, with mermaid-style, fit-and-flare dresses, ball gowns and perfectly ruched slips, all done in multiple combinations of black and white polka dots, paired with matching clutches and kitten heels.

Plus, her society hostess columns in raspberry and pink or her flared chiffon dress in Arsenal red were impeccable.

See catwalk

“I wanted to strip everything back, reduce everything and get down to the clean architectural elements, but still keep the style super feminine. I wanted clothes that would surprise and dazzle, and if there are too many tricks and too much noise, you can’t hear the impact,” a freshly shaven Gordenn smiled backstage.

All backed by a mix of Janet Jackson hits, from Disgusting to All for youThe collection was a welcome reminder that when it comes to fully realized elegance, the house of Herrera remains the undisputed leader in New York.

It presents itself before an indoor rock garden designed by Japanese master sculptor Isamu Noguchi, inside a stainless steel skyscraper at 28 Liberty Street, in the heart of Wall Street.

Later today, Puig CEO Marc Puig will address analysts, no doubt a little surprised by the recent 13% drop in the share price in a single day after the group announced a 26% drop in half-year profit. But Marc brushed aside concerns, noting that the fall was mainly due to costs incurred on its successful €13.9 billion IPO in January, Europe's biggest this year.

“The most important thing is that Barcelona are playing well,” said an ever-imperturbable Marc, whose beloved football team, after a few difficult seasons, are currently at the top of the Spanish top division, La Liga.