HIGH ROLLER

The Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II defines high luxury, a spellbinding expression of supreme craftsmanship and elite-level design, and a blank canvas built for bespoke alterations, onto which owners etch their distinct personalities

ART DIRECTOR: KERRI BENNETT

PHOTOGRAPHER: AUSRA OSIPAVICIUTE

LOCATION: AL FAISALIAH HOTEL

Frilly, frothy, and a little bit rebellious — that’s what Wes Gordon believes fashion should be. No wonder everyone from first ladies to Adele loves his designs for Carolina Herrera

WORDS: HARRIET QUICK

“Carolina Herrera is not overintellectual — it is about making beautiful clothes, and that’s more important than ever before. How we dress is one of the areas that we can control. If an outfit makes you smile, that’s not frivolous or silly... Excuse me, I’m in a full ramble!” Wes Gordon says from his 17th-floor Midtown studio, where the creative director has a bird’s eye view of 7th Avenue on a hot and sultry New York afternoon.

Dressed in a khaki utility jacket and T-shirt, Gordon speaks with the sincerity and vitality that befits the brand that was founded by the flamboyant Venezuelan-born designer Carolina Herrera more than 40 years ago. In 2018 Gordon, who initially worked as a consultant for Herrera, was invited by the designer herself to take the helm of the business that she established in the heady, boldfaced 1980s. That was an era of fax machines, MTV, Madonna and a new flush of American patriotism championed by the Reagans at the White House. Herrera, who was encouraged to start her own line by Diana Vreeland, seized the moment and created a bold take on elegance that was adored by first ladies, society swans and business leaders alike.

“America has very few legacy fashion houses and Herrera is one of them,” he says. “It is one of the great names of elegance and grandeur intrinsic with Mrs Herrera herself. There is a mystique, an aura, a glamour and a strength that I was mesmerised by, growing up as a young boy in Atlanta.”

Indeed, alongside Bill Blass, Halston, Isaac Mizrahi, Oscar de la Renta and Geoffrey Beene, Herrera helped build the firmament of the American designer business and gave it a shape, cosmopolitan personality and sense of pragmatic chic that was distinct from the Parisian powerhouses. Redlipped and blonde-haired, she was constantly on the best dressed lists alongside her husband, the Venezuelan TV host Reinaldo Herrera Guevara, skilfully crisscrossing society cliques with her flamboyant gowns, cultural knowledge and exuberant style.

“She was downtown with Basquiat and at Studio 54 with Steve Rubell and uptown at galas and hosting parties in her townhouse,” Gordon says. “She was encapsulated by Andy Warhol in a silk-screen portrait and photographed

by Robert Mapplethorpe.

And she’s still alive and well today and a greatgrandmother!” Gordon still socialises with Herrera, now 83, exchanging stories but rarely talking about fashion. One delicious anecdote surrounds the Warhol portrait of her. The pop artist swapped it for a woven gold minaudière that Herrera’s husband had given her. (She hid the exchange from her husband, saying the little evening bag was in for repair.) The other great lesson she imparted was not to be consumed by the often boring restrictions of “good taste” — her thinking was that real elegance needs a touch of madness, a hint of spice, visible in her penchant for jewel-toned ballgown skirts and her iconic white shirts with dramatic poet sleeves.

But Herrera’s creative world was starkly different from today’s postpandemic fashion business, which is driven by environmental concerns and fuelled by social media, influencers and celebrities. Society ladies and the doyennes of magazines no longer rule the roost, delivering diktats from ivory towers: today the customer is king. Gordon wanted to marry the new and old worlds and evolve the brand to appeal to loyalists and newcomers alike. And there’s a real diversity to the women it attracts, from the actress and producer Tessa Thompson (who wore a pink gown with 200 metres of tulle gathered into a train for the Met Gala) and Adele (a balloon-sleeve sequined cocktail dress for her birthday) to Rita Moreno, the 90-year-old star of the original West Side Story, who wore a sculptural black one-shouldered number to last year’s Oscars. “I never want to give a mandate about colours or hemlines but let clients find something that really expresses their individuality,” says Gordon, who has a masterful way with intoxicating colour, exuberant ruffles, sculptural silhouettes and sweeping hemlines.

The softly spoken thirtysomething has rich experience to pour into the brand. Raised in Atlanta and besotted by the work of John Galliano at Dior, he made a beeline for Central Saint Martins in London as soon as he was able. “During high school I used to train with a local dressmaker who taught me how to pattern-cut and sew. I moved to London in 2005, and coming from a traditional southern school to student housing in Aldgate East was a huge contrast. Throughout I had this attraction to the idea of elegance and Saint Martins does a great job pushing you to be who you truly are — it was a beautiful discovery process,” he adds. Via his network Gordon secured a summer internship at Oscar de la Renta in New York, and he later took the plunge to launch his own line of flamboyant eveningwear. Little did he know, though, that in 2008 the economy was about to crash after the Lehman Brothers collapse. Adversity is sometimes the best teacher. Buyers, unwilling to risk budgets on a new name, invited Gordon to present his collection in intimate trunk shows around the world. And it was that invaluable experience that gave him an insight into the lifestyles of potential clients. Rather than being reliant on a fictitious woman on a mood board, he got to see what truly makes eyes sparkle in the fitting room. Yet running his own brand versus taking on a legacy was a choice that had to be made. On meeting Herrera, he found an immediate connection. He now oversees all aspects of the brand, from bespoke commissions to seasonal collections, accessories and beauty.

The label is one of the few in New York that still runs an atelier with a team of long-standing seamstresses and tailors. Having been given the chance to sink or swim (Mrs Herrera never sees the collections prior to their catwalk debut), Gordon is defiantly swimming. He has achieved a happy work/life equilibrium with his partner, the real estate developer and celebrated glass-blower Paul Arnhold, and their 19-month-old son. The couple spend weekends at their farm in Connecticut, which offers a striking alternative to draping metres of silk faille.

“I come into the office on a Monday with fresh eggs from the farm and oversharing pictures of our baby,” Gordon says. “I didn’t grow up with animals and now they have become a passion — we have horses, ponies, cows, sheep and lots of chickens. The farm is a sanctuary and a huge part of my life.

“The world does not need more ‘stuff’ and making for the sake of making is the wrong approach,” he continues. “Fashion and luxury are about making something when you feel you have something to say, and I remind myself of that every day. Clients want to feel amazing, have a good time and treat all special moments like a celebration.”

Graffiti, street art, hip-hop and punk rock collide for a major exhibition kicking off in London this month, featuring original art, photography, and immersive installations

WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON

Was there a moment in time when graffiti or street art became elevated, viewed as culturally significant, and a form of contemporary art in its own right? The transition has definitely happened, with artwork frequently shared on social media; fashion and lifestyle brands embracing an urban vibe; property developers commissioning artists to create murals on their apartment blocks and shopping malls; and names such as Banksy becoming as well known as Andy Warhol or Vincent Van Gogh. Museums and art galleries are also dedicating floor and wall space to this particular form of expression, knowing that it will prove popular with visitors. The Saatchi Gallery in London is the latest to pay tribute, with its own exhibition, Beyond the Streets London , beginning this month. Supported by adidas Originals, the work of more than 150 artists will be featured, and covering 70,000 sq ft it marks the first time in eight years that a show has taken over the entirety of the venue. Featuring special commissions, original art, rare ephemera, photography, immersive and sitespecific installations, archival fashion, and more, the exhibition will spotlight the icons, rule-breakers and mark-makers that have shaped our understanding of street art. Expect to see key moments from the worlds of graffiti, hip-hop and punk rock, from painting trains to social activism, challenging authority, exploring how this rebellious urban culture has changed and influenced the mainstream.

The exhibition’s curator, Roger Gastman, is one of the world’s leading experts when it comes to street art.

The founder of Beyond the Streets (the global, art-driven cultural and educational movement), he is arguably one of the figures responsible for its increasing popularity, having led a number of shows in the US. He explains why London serves as the perfect setting. “The story of graffiti and street art can’t be told without highlighting the significant role London, and the UK in general, played in revolutionising these cultures and continuing to spread the word of their existence,” he explains. “Pushing the global narrative has always been of importance to us, and we’re honoured to continue telling our story at Saatchi Gallery, whose prestige and impact are unmatched in the UK.”

Gastman believes that street art becoming more recognised was inevitable. “All subcultures grow and break out at some point,” he continues.

“The fact that graffiti and street art have become so global is a byproduct of decades of growth. It’s funny to think that things I would hide from my friends’ parents, or anyone for that matter, are now celebrated.

“It’s also important to remember that the rules and laws have not changed – people have just grown up – and as they worked the system to write their names all over it back then, they are working the system now to keep their names in it, and often get paid and recognised for it.”

You can indeed make quite the living as a street artist today. A piece by KAWS, whose work is among those featured in Beyond the Streets London , had a 2005 painting of his sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2019 for $14.7 million – 15 times the estimate. The most paid for a Banksy artwork is $29.5 million, with Love is in the Bin sold at auction in 2021. As Gastman confirms, “Graffiti and street art is highly collected. Many artists that honed their skills on the streets have had great success in galleries and museums all over the world.”

One of the first major exhibitions to truly shine a spotlight on the culture was Art on the Streets in LA MOCA, Los Angeles, back in 2011, also involving Gastman. In its 113-day run, it attracted more than 200,000 visitors, proving that there was major interest. At the same time, the show had its share of critics, who accused LA MOCA of “glorifying vandalism”, with a New York councilman even threatening to pull the funding of any of the city’s museums looking to host something similar on the East Coast.

So even then, just 12 years ago, a stigma around street art remained, but Gastman is defiant. “There will always be a stigma around anything illegal and misunderstood, that’s what this culture is based on,” he argues.

“With exhibitions like this, I always have the idea of education through entertainment. Keeping anyone’s attention is hard these days, so we’re grateful people are willing to spend the time to attend the shows, to learn and be inspired by such rich history.”

And helping to entertain will be a long list of names. “The show is arranged in chapters, with the first, Music and Art Converge, exploring the sociopolitical turmoil of the late 1970s and early 1980s, where the decline of cities met artistic resistance – a shift that was felt in both the US and the UK,” Gastman describes. “So we have Futura 2000’s legendary 30ft painting, created as a stage backdrop for British punk-rock band The Clash, alongside the work of Malcom McLaren, Mode 2, and American photojournalist Martha Cooper.

“Then we move into Jenny Holzer’s truisms; Henry Chalfant’s photography of New York train writers in action;

Lady Aiko’s timeless stenciling of delicate silhouettes; and Gordon Matta-Clark’s extraordinary archive of graffiti photography. We also look at cultural icons who helped take graffiti to the mainstream, such as Mister Cartoon, known for his tattooing and Los Angeles murals, the Beastie Boys and Lady Pink. And we have artists like Jamie Reid, who defined the look of punk, and TAKI 183, an early pioneer.”

There is no doubt that this is a significant show, highlighting what has now become a major art form, whether critics like it or not. Attitudes towards graffiti seem to have warmed gradually over time, and for Gastman this will lead to a brighter future. “As everything adapts and changes, so does street art and graffiti,” he concludes. “Laws change, tools change, and spaces in cities and messages change. Everything becomes cluttered over time, and it takes more and more to cut through the noise. Graffiti and street art are illegal, but there’s always a new group of artists that will break through to get their names out there, regardless of consequence.” Beyond the Streets London is at the Saatchi Gallery, London, from February 17-May 9