Carolina Herrera tells us about jewelry, glamor and how confinement has happened

Our meeting should take place in London.A great professional session with a star photographer and artists in hairdressing and makeup.Carolina Herrera, creative director of Carolina Herrera Perfumes and member of Sotheby's White Baaz, and we were going to discuss her favorite pieces of our next sale of magnificent jewels and noble jewels in Geneva (on Tuesday, June 23 and Wednesday, June 24 in Sotheby´s).The task was clear: an atmospheric session of beautiful clothes of the homonymous brand of Herrera's mother and our wonderful jewels, but, unfortunately, it was not destined to be.The quarantine imposed by the Government, in this case, turned out to be a blessing.We are in Madrid, in the privacy of your new home.A haven of color and light, where ease and comfort reign.Its vast yeclectic collection of art books serves as a backdrop, with the calm of the trees and the jasmine drilling aroma of its exuberant garden bathed by the sun that completes the very intimate environment.

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Carolina, where and how have you been spending this confinement period?

I 've been very lucky.I have spent the confinement with my three children in my new house here in Madrid.The first weeks really flew while we were installing and unpacking.We also had the blessing of the garden where we could walk.It seems to have been destiny.The house received us, the moment was perfect.I'm very grateful

In terms of creative influences, have you been returning to your old favorites or discovering new inspirations?

I think a little of both.Again, everything is reduced to the fact that I had to place everything.When you move, throw and clean things and I think it was also the right time for that.I found old things that I realized that I still loved, but I also discovered many new.I had time to read newspapers and magazines from A to Z.I looked Instagram.I looked online.I investigated fascinating themes that range from art to history, or places where I was or I would like to visit.I followed the Sotheby´s online auctions with a different look;It has been fascinating to see how active Sotheby’s.I subscribe to Business of Fashion, which is brilliant for fashion news, analysis and business intelligence in the global fashion industry.It was very interesting to see market reactions to COVID-19.

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I agree, Business of Fashion makes a convincing reading.Particularly because one can extrapolate their reports from the world of in -depth fashion to other fields, such as jewelry, and understand global trends.

Fashion and jewelry are part of the aesthetics of a period and, I finally believe that they go hand in hand.I see jewels as accessories, and accessories are the most important in fashion.They finish the look.So much, paraphrasing my mother, as the perfume, which is the most important invisible accessory for a woman.Jewelry, like perfume, has great sentimental value.They are always linked to memories, like who gave it to you, or who did you inherited it, or if, for example, you bought it with your first salary.They take you back to a moment.Or create a moment.Perfume and jewels are magical in this way.They are the definitive accessories for a woman.

"Jewels, such as perfume, have great sentimental value.They are always linked to memories, like who gave it to him, or who inherited it, or if, for example, he bought it with his first payment check.You return to a moment.Or create a moment.Perfume and jewels are magical in this way.They are the best accessories for a woman "

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In fact, I also think they share that exceptional and personal connection with the user.What I find fascinating with perfume, unlike jewels, is its invisible quality.

Yes, jewels are tangible.Both perfumes and jewels have a strong vocabulary and can be used as powerful tools for a woman to present and, ultimately, choose who wants to be.

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Normally you travel a lot, so have you found comfort, motivation and inspiration at home?

Definitely, when you travel, apart from the physical movement from one place to another, what inspires it is what you see and the footprint that leaves in your brain.In the same way, you can travel while you are home through memories, books, photographs, conversations, watching movies...I've seen many old movies with my children.They have given me comfort, like my two dear dogs.There has been a lot of time to travel without having to move.We yearn for the places we have visited, but it wasn't nostalgic.

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As creative director of one of the main fragrance houses in the world, Carolina Herrera, you are accustomed to moving constantly around the world.Has the blocking period changed the way you work and communicate with your classmates?

I think the team and I have worked as hard.Zoom and WhatsApp have proven to be an excellent and fast way to communicate.We have all became self -sufficient.With the help of a tripod I recorded.While before we would have produced a professional video, now everything is homemade.There was much we planned and achieved.We had to compensate for many events that were canceled.I realized that we don't need to travel so much.Obstacles and changes are good.I am not being banal or trying to say that this was an ideal situation, but once you accept it, you find ways to achieve things in innovative ways.

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We experience the same in Sotheby’s.I also believe that we have all been pushed to be more creative.What is definitive is that loneliness affects brain and creativity in a very positive way.One has to face the challenge and find ways to stay productive.Sotheby’s has been organizing online auctions that were not in the original sales calendar that have proven to be resounding successes, attracting many new and younger customers.Don't you think, curiously, we are more connected by realizing that many of us enjoy appreciating the same little things?What little daily pleasures do you have in your life?

Oh my God, I have so many....From lunch with my children, who would normally be out at school, to watching television series and, particularly, appreciated the time I could dedicate to my books.From organizing, eating well, all those little things we take for granted in normal circumstances, to disguise. Por ejemplo, usaría sin razón ese espectacular anillo de esmeraldas Van Cleef & Arpels.The emeralds are, with much, my favorite stone.

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Have you used jewelry when you got dressed during confinement?

Yes.I love jewels as you know.I love wearing jewels in a very relaxed way.For me.Let's take, for example, those pending for perfect square diamonds, so easy to use that they go from morning to night.I don't think you need to wear jewels for others but for your own pleasure.It is wonderful.A superlative way of making you a jewel.I would, for example, my pajamas with that incredible star tia..Then I would remove the stars brooches and use them like a shower of diamond stars in a sweater or a white t -shirt for lunch.That is my dream.Very versatile.I love changing my jewels.I also love the Chalcedonia and Pearl bracelet of Belperron and the Torsade Bracelet, as well as the Corsade de Cartier and the Chimaera bracelet bracelet.I love bold statements.I think one should enjoy the jewels every day.The same with art.Some people only put their works of art in the living room, I like to put it in other unsuspected places of my home.That is a real pleasure for me.You surround yourself with things you relate to.It can be anything: art, jewelry, dresses, furniture, books, perfumes...Even those camellias trees in the garden.May seem superficial, but they are not.They have an emotional bond that creates a memory and have a deeper meaning that goes beyond their initial apparent value.

How are perfumes created?

The starting point is usually a moment, a memory in my life, be it an ode to my mother Carolina, my childhood or a color that I love.Even if it is not the starting point, there is always a moment in the creation of this wonderful woman or man, which is very real.From there we create a script.For Good Girl, our current superventas, inspiration was my mother.It's a bit like those icy blonde beauties of Hitchcock.The beginning was that.Then he became this powerful, feminine, sexy and double woman, which can also be a bit mischief.It is a very personal image that will then translate into an aroma with which many women can identify.One must embrace his shadow, because the shadow is your true self, even if it is not obvious to the world.

I can see that perfectly.It is largely the transition that one sees in the wonderful polaroid Warhol of your mother that we just named.The epitome of beauty and femininity combined with determination and independence.I love that duality.I can associate a lot with your description of creating a perfume because, with the jewels, it is very similar.Women can, through their jewels, become who want to be.The rank of possibilities is infinite, and the transformation is immediate and empowering.

For me are the jewels that I love for me, my taste and that I would use.Then there are the jewels that I like but I'm not really me.They are the ones that would particularly use in an unconventional and irreverent way.For example, that incredible yellow diamond.I'm not me at all, but I love it.I would use it, not for a formal party, but for an ordinary occasion.

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Do you think it is important to add glamor to your daily routine?

Of course I believe it, and I think the glamor is in the viewer's eyes.There is no universal glamor that we can all imagine in the same way.Of course, the old Hollywood stars radiated glamor that cannot be compared to what we see today.I think it's a feeling.Is to feel important and valued.It is a touch of power.I would love to use, as they did at the time, that wonderful diamond bracelet Cartier Art Deco stacked with others, as well as the Cartier dress clips.Glamor has nothing to do with marking the boxes with what is stereotypically considered glamorous.It is the difference between empowerment and validation.Is for you.It could be red nail polish or red lipstick.I should cheer up the soul.Beauty does that.Jewelry also does.It makes you dream.

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He has selected his favorite pieces from our sale of magnificent jewels and noble jewels of June, part I and part II in Geneva.How would you use and design these once it is allowed to socialize again?

I would always dress them badly.I like subtlety and mystery.I love discovering things.Broches, like René Boivin, used in less obvious places, would use it as a belt buckle, maybe.Large old necklaces with a white shirt.That is fun for me.Breaking the rules.Do the unexpected.Not waiting for an occasion to use them, but to enjoy the pleasure of using them simply "because", such as the large mauboussin bracelet or natural pearl earrings.It is not superficial if it gives you joy.We should carefully invest in fashion and jewelry.

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Who is your style inspiration?

My inspiration is a natural woman.It is an attitude.You know when someone has style.They feel comfortable and they are more important than their jewels and clothes.Is when everything fits well.They are safe.The notes and makes you want to wear their jewels and clothes.

Do you have an exclusive piece of jewelry?Do you mix and combine?

I do.Things that my parents have given me and a couple of hoops that I bought with the first money I earned.I definitely mix and combine.The power of a jewel for me is its beauty, its attractiveness and the memory it evokes, and the way I feel when I use it.

This has been a lot of fun, Carolina.Thanks for inviting me to your beautiful new house, and for your very personal thoughts and new ideas of ways to wear jewels.I'm sure they will inspire many.

By Andrés White Correal GG, senior International Business Development, Jewellery, Sotheby's

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