Carolina Herrera are of course famous for their women’s wear.  Their elegant, classic womenswear has just a touch of couture luxury about it.  Herrerra is most often seen as a luxury lifestyle brand for women.  It doesn’t hurt that Carolina Herrerra herself is an extremely elegant, beautiful woman and that she has established her clothes through season after season as  sophisticated tailored womenswear.  Carolina Herrerra  is a byword for upscale classic cosmopolitan style.

Carolina Herrerra also make and sell menswear.  Two things prompted me to write about Herrerra menswear.  Firstly, their classic men’s fragrance Carolina Herrerra Men 212 was rated very highly in our recent article about men’s fragrances (article is here).  Secondly the menswear range has just released a new brand CH Men Sport, a range of sporty summer clothes, aimed at the stylish younger man. 

So with these things in mind I went along to Carolina Herrerra’s store in London’s Mount Street to catch up on their menswear.

Carolina Herrerra store entrance on Mount Street, Mayfair, ondon

It’s quite a store.  Carolina Herrerra herself is originally from Venezuela and the store embodies that plush, dark-wood lush comfort that one associates with South American luxury.  As soon as you step over the threshold, the outside world disappears and you enter a very quiet, very tactile world of superb fabrics and classic designs.  Here is what you experience when you enter the store.

Carolina Herrerra, stoe interior, Mayfair, London

And the service here matches the store.  Softly spoken and courteous.  On a previous visit I was struck by the willingness of the staff to order in clothes that were in the look book but not available in my size.      

Menswear is mostly in the downstairs of the shop, which is laid out is a combination of racks and artful displays, which lend themselves to being picked up and inspected.  Again very tactile.  Here is the view along the racked collection.  At the moment the summer collection is in store, so there is a selection of well-cut jackets, slim-cut casual trousers and the CH take on classic soft-cotton shirts. 

I also like Herrerra’s Winter collections, for their topcoats.  Last winter they had the a wonderfully soft grey wool herringbone single-breasted topcoat.  I did not buy it but now often wish I had.  It was classic and to be truthful it was rather regal, quite showy (the Herringbone was a rich pale grey) and really drew the eye.  Very forties movie-star.  However at the moment that is an aside, as the winter 2012 collection will not be in stock for a little while.             

Menswear tends towards beautifully tailored classics.  I think this season’s standouts have to be the soft, buttery suede jackets, in various shades of tan.  The suede is of really good quality and the finishing on these jackets is tailoring perfection.  Here is a picture of one style.  

Suede summer jacket, Carolina Herrerra, summer 2012

Also good are this summer’s knitwear and shirts.  I like the fact that CH actually chose a colour palette for their collections and stick to it.  So this season it is all Summer shades, sage greens, warm dusty lavenders and summery reds.  So if you are a chap who has had his colours done and knows that Summer colours suit him, this is the perfect collection for you.  There is an end-of-a-very-still summer’s day about this collection.  There is a great deal to like about it.

Here is a picture.

Carolina Herrerra, summer colours, 2012

Here are two shots I had to include:

The first is a shot of one of the accessories cases.  I really liked the red-brown wallet at the lower right.  The colour makes it a different, original, without diminishing it’s classic allure.

interesting leatherwork on the wallets

The second were these men’s silk squares.  I think nothing says Carolina Herrerra more than the navy and white lined square.  Classic, crisp, elegant. 

Classic silk squares

Carolina Herrerra Men Sport

I mentioned earlier that Carolina Herrerra has a new range, more casual than their classics, fun and a little bit younger.  Here are some images from the capsule collection. 

CH Men Sport 2012, Blazer and shorts

 The blazer is casual but quite smart, with the white piping.  The sort of jacket you could wear in over a coupel of summers and make it your own.    

I included this picture because I liked the hoodie top.  Substantial, well-tailored but fun with the corded tie.   

Reds and Navy predominate here and of course the impeccable tailoring that distinguishes Carolina Herrerra is still evident.  So though it is a fun sport collection, it retains the classy elegance of CH and that is what makes it stand out.  The collection was released last week.  The collection will be in the London store within the next week, so go browse it, its good stuff. 

The Carolina Herrerra store is in Mount Street in Mayfair at this address:

Carolina Herrerra

120 Mount Street,

London, W1 3NN

Phone +44 (0) 20344 10965

The Carolina Herrerra website is here.