Wes Gordon channels the intuitive style of landscape legends for a lineup that prioritizes ease over rigid construction.
Summary
- Wes Gordon draws inspiration from gardening icons Bunny Mellon and Miranda Brooks to create a wardrobe defined by intuitive layering and lightweight construction.
- The collection balances graphic elements like crisp striped poplins against botanical textures, featuring hand-applied rosettes and hydrangea prints.
- Accessories play a central role in transforming the looks, with refreshed signature handbags and jewelry designed to shift an outfit from day to evening.
For Pre-Fall 2026, Wes Gordon looks beyond the floral print and toward the gardener herself. The Carolina Herrera creative director turns his attention to the rituals of planting and pruning, finding a muse in the intuitive style of women like Bunny Mellon and Miranda Brooks. These are figures whose approach to horticulture mirrors their way of dressing, creating a world where instinct and joy take precedence over rigid rules. The season reflects on creativity and care, resulting in a lineup that feels cultivated rather than constructed.
Gordon proposes a wardrobe built on playful ease, where pieces are meant to be mixed with a sense of personal freedom. “I loved the idea of dressing the way you garden,” says Gordon. “There’s instinct, intention, and a kind of freedom in the way you bring things together.”
This philosophy translates into a silhouette shaped by a dialogue between relaxation and structure. The collection moves with a quiet grace, utilizing lightweight construction that allows the wearer to move without restriction. Relaxed striped shirting sits alongside softly tailored jackets, while suiting arrives in a textured chambray. The botanical inspiration becomes literal through sculptural notes, as rosettes, petal-like slits, and voluminous sleeves lend a softness to dresses and evening wear.
The influence of Bunny Mellon’s quiet elegance runs through the garments. Her affinity for hydrangeas and peonies surfaces in prints on chiffon and organza, as well as in engineered lace and dimensional leaf embroideries. Gordon plays with texture and contrast, placing hand-applied pink rosettes onto plaids and using lurex-woven jacquards to add depth without adding weight.
For evening, silk faille provides the structure for gowns featuring detachable trains or wrapped sashes. Midnight and pale-pink paillettes offer a soft luminosity, while crisp poplins and directional stripes provide a graphic counterpoint to the organic floral motifs. The color story mimics a garden’s spectrum. Vibrant lawn greens appear on lace and tailoring, while rosewater pink and cranberry hues warm the knitwear. Cooling the palette are cloudy and midnight blues seen in tweeds and jerseys, all grounded by soft birch brown gabardine.
Outerwear maintains an understated opulence. Deep green capes and embroidered trenches sit alongside peony jacquard coats that feel surprisingly light. The palette shifts naturally from the freshness of summer into the deeper tones of fall.
The accessories serve as the final layer of this narrative. Signature handbags return in updated iterations, including the Luci in navy and light blue leather and the Pia in a rich brown suede. The Consuelo gets a glamorous update in pink and black crystal degradé, while the Vega appears in an Isle Blue and Rosewater satin weave. Jewelry picks up the botanical thread with layered floral motifs and enamel details drawn from the collection’s colors.
Gordon views these additions as essential tools for styling. “The accessories give the collection a real sense of transformation,” says Gordon. “An organza dress can be worn simply for the day, then completely reimagined with an opulent necklace for the evening.”
