Carolina Herrera’s India Connection
“Jasmine is part of my life; it has always been with me long before I got into fashion. It’s the first scent I discovered.” Carolina Herrera
HERRERA JASMINE
Herrera Jasmine pays homage to the most iconic flower of Carolina Herrera’s universe — A bright, elegant and sophisticated jasmine that blooms every season keeping the creative spirit of the firm alive.Jasmine is a source of infinite inspiration for Carolina Herrera. It’s an exceptional flower that runs parallel to her own trail, from her earliest memories to the most recent projects; always radiant. A reality that conforms her aesthetic sensibility and attention to detail, the quality and finishes of her creations, a contagious passion and alegría de vivir transpiring in everything she does.
JASMINE – THE ORIGINS
The heart of New York, the city that gave birth to Carolina Herrera as a designer, hosts the atelier of the firm. Here, the best quality materials are always ready to tell the story of a new collection with jasmine as an inexhaustible source of inspiration.The shape, color, and texture of the flower that accompanies Carolina Herrera from her childhood in the gardens of La Vega are the canvas where the designer declines her unlimited creativity season after season.
A NEVER ENDING STORY
Carolina Herrera de Baez attends the harvest of the flower in its birthplace, Coimbatore, in the state of Tamil Nadu in India, becoming a witness of a millenary culture that venerates it for its sacred origin, its aesthetic dimension, and luminous beauty.
This journey becomes an exercise to contain the ephemeral splendor of Sambac in perfume, thus keeping it forever alive.
SECRETS OF SAMBAC
Sambac is one of the most prized varieties of jasmine in haute parfumerie due to its intensity and variety of nuances. In May of 2017, Carolina Herrera de Baez travels to Coimbatore, south of India, to attend the harvest of a flower that is in the heart of the emblematic perfume Carolina Herrera New York, 212, and the most recent Good Girl and Blonde Jasmine among others.
MEMORIES OF SAMBAC
The days in Coimbatore reveal how jasmine is ever-present. Carolina Herrera de Baez’ appointments, market visits, and field trips, expose the day to day of a culture around the flower. A tradition that has a mystical origin since jasmine is mainly cultivated for sacred offerings. The production of Sambac that is not intended for temples is taken to the flower markets, while the rest is destined to perfumery.
AN INDIAN JOURNEY
Carolina Herrera de Baez’ trip to India takes place between the street bustle, the markets that never sleep, and the calm that prevails in the fields preparing for the harvest of jasmine. In Coimbatore, the flower is present in the daily life marking the calendar with the infinite rhythm of the crop cycles.
Credit: Carolina Herrera
