For the first time in its history, Carolina Herrera took its main runway show outside New York, transforming Madrid’s Plaza Mayor into a pink-carpeted stage. With the launch of the house's new fragrance La Bomba and a SS26 fashion spectacle, creative director Wes Gordon paid tribute to Madrileño rhythms, colours and traditions
The 15th-century Plaza Mayor in Madrid has borne witness to coronations, royal weddings, bullfights and protests, but never before an international runway spectacle. As the Spanish sun dipped behind the ochre rooftops, the square was transformed into a pink-carpeted runway, wrapped in the golden light of early evening. Madrileños leaned out from their wrought-iron balconies, curious to glimpse the commotion below, while tourists dining on patatas bravas at corner cafés found themselves front-row to a new kind of historic moment. The air was charged with excitement as locals lined the barriers, hollering at the parade of celebrities sweeping into the square.
Amidst the swarm of Spanish and global A-list guests – a true brigada of cinema stars, musicians and models – one stood out: Vittoria Ceretti, the new Herrera muse and the luminous face of the house’s just-launched fragrance, La Bomba. “Carolina is loud, fabulous and explosive like nobody else,” Vogue's Diana Vreeland famously once said. “That’s why I call her La Bomba.”
Now, the house has bottled that very essence. La Bomba is more than a fragrance; it’s an homage to Mrs. Herrera herself – the woman who lit up New York society with her elegance, her joy, her irrepressible fearlessness. If the blockbuster Good Girl scents were about sleek sensuality, La Bomba is all about free-spirited joy. And crucially, it marks the first time florals have entered the Herrera fragrance library. With notes of cherry peony, red frangipani, pitaya and vanilla, it underscores what creative director Wes Gordon himself explained of the Madrid show: “Herrera is a house of flowers.” From fragrance to fashion, blossoms were everywhere for SS26 – embroidered, appliquéd, jacquarded – uniting scent and silhouette in a single vision.
The 15th-century Plaza Mayor in the heart of Madrid was taken over and transformed for Carolina Herrera's SS26 spectacle.
On the pink carpet, Vittoria joined a glittering guest list that included Alexa Chung, Olivia Palermo, and Danish style savant Mathilde Gøhler. Carolina Adriana Herrera and Patricia Cristina Herrera – two of Mrs. Herrera's daughters – also took their seats, embodying the house’s intergenerational legacy. And them for the first time, a Carolina Herrera main collection unfolded in a city outside of New York. Against the grandeur of Plaza Mayor, Gordon sent out a collection that was unapologetically Spanish in mood yet firmly Herrera in execution. Flamenco ruffles, trapeze silhouettes and matador-inspired jackets came alive in the evening light, their tiers of organza and silk fluttering like banners in a breeze. There were carnations (Madrid’s emblematic bloom) reimagined as jacquard, threadwork, and appliqué. Violets appeared in delicate embroidery, a nod to the city’s beloved candies. Roses bloomed in lush textures, lifted from the Retiro’s historic gardens.
The colour palette was an Almodóvar dream: saffron yellows, Herrera red, deep Rioja, violeta lilac, and graphic black and white, electrified by jolts of hot pink. Some looks recalled the cobblestones of Plaza Mayor itself, with structured tailoring and checks, while others evoked a summer night in Andalusia, spun out in tiered flamenco skirts and dramatic drapery. The accessories (bow bags reimagined in raffia, crocodile embossing and playful minaudières) paid tribute to the house’s icons while keeping pace with the spirit of the street.
Collaborations deepened the collection’s dialogue with Spain. SybilL’s architectural flourishes were threaded through Herrera’s sharp tailoring, while Palomo’s exuberant flair bent masculine tropes into feminine fantasy. Porcelain florals by Andrés Gallardo dangled from ears and wrists, delicate yet subversive. Loeven’s crystal adornments turned models into living chandeliers, catching the last light of the day and scattering it across the square.
The soundtrack, a riot of retro Spanish pop, pulsed through the space, igniting not just the front row but the entire square. At the souvenir shops tucked under the Plaza’s arches, staff abandoned their counters to dance in the doorways, proof that Herrera’s celebration of beauty and joy was contagious.
See all the looks from Carolina Herrera's SS26 runway show below.
