Carolina Herrera uses necklines to focus on face

NEW YORK — The best clothes enhance the wearer — her smile, her eyes, her outlook. Carolina Herrera's fall collection offered Monday at New York Fashion Week highlighted what's likely to be a trend for next season, and a welcome one at that: Modern styles that put the focus on a woman's face thanks to high, interesting necklines.

No decollete and not a lot of leg, either. Attention was drawn upward as one model wore a hand-painted organza scarf with her navy wool suit with black grosgrain detail, and another wore a tweed suit with a fox-fur collar. There was a lovely lilac cashmere kaleidoscope-print scarf that complemented a cropped purple-wool jacket and slim silk mikado pant.

Herrera went with a more architectural silhouette than a frilly one, but as a seasoned supplier of chic clothes, she moves easily between the two looks. The finale ballgown in bright pink was worn off the shoulder with a folded fabric bodice. A key daytime outfit — something her luxury-seeking customers count on her for — was a navy knit turtleneck with a broadtail-fur (flat lambswool) front and an indigo-colored pencil skirt.

For the day-to-night lifestyle, there was a sparkly embroidered navy-colored cowl top worn under a knit coat.

She featured a series of abstract prints on her eveningwear, which made a statement on the catwalk at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week but might be hard to appreciate in tighter quarters. But, alas, the Herrera woman lives in a world of grand entrances.

Herrera loyalist Renee Zellweger once again filled her spot in the front row.