10 Questions: Carolina Herrera on What’s Next…in Style

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/15/art.vert.carolina.herrera.jpg caption="Designer Carolina Herrera watches rehearsals before the Carolina Herrera Fall 2010 Fashion Show in New York City on Monday." width=292 height=320]

David Puente
AC360° Producer

A cross between the AC360° series "What's Next" and The Proust questionnaire, AC360° Producer David Puente asks newsmakers his own set of questions. If in the The Proust Questionnaire – named for the writer Marcel Proust who popularized it – the individual responding reveals his or her true nature, then in this questionnaire we'll learn about the individual and about "what's next" in the coming century.

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Carolina Herrera
Fashion Designer

Taking time out from New York's Fashion Week, designer Carolina Herrera pondered what's next for the industry, male vanity and even Venezuela's strong-man President Hugo Chavez.

Carolina Herrera, the Caracas-born entrepreneur remains true to her brand of elegance. It's made her an icon around the globe and attracted stylish women – from Renée Zellweger to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - to her showrooms for more than three decades. But now she says she's also looking beyond high fashion. Unlike most designers showing on New York runways this week, Carolina Herrera's fashion empire is expanding. This year she plans to open new shops for her lifestyle brand, as well as her men's line under the CH Carolina Herrera label.

1. What's your greatest professional achievement?

Always the last show.

2. Is the fashion world more about cat fights and struggles, or about feeding the soul and the human spirit?

When fashion makes you look beautiful, as a woman or man, that feeds your human spirit.

3. Today Venezuela is known for producing oil and Miss Universes, what will it produce in 2050?

I hope we will produce a lot – a lot of oil, but without Hugo Chavez.

4. By 2050 will Latinas have changed America more than America will have changed Latinas?

Latinas who come to the U.S. should adapt, learn English and become a part of the community.

5. What city will be the world's hub for fashion and style in 2050?

Fashion is about today. In 2050, we have to see what is happening in the world, that will dictate what's in fashion and where it is created.

6. The quality you most deplore in fashion designers?

The ego, (laughter), the ego that some fashion designers have.

7. What will people say about Carolina Herrera in 2099?

I hope they love and remember her.

8. In 2099 will luxury be over-rated?

Luxury will be always around, no matter what happens in the world.

9. It used to be that men didn't have to have six packs. They didn't have to be trim. What will they have to do to look good in the future?

Men will want to look even better. They are vain and like to take care of themselves, just as women like to do.

10. A century from now what first lady from our lifetime will people admire for her personal style?

Jackie Kennedy without a doubt.

Editor's Note: This interview was conducted before Designer Alexander McQueen died last week at the age of 40. McQueen was a star in the fashion world, known for coming up with designs that broke traditions and often shocked many. The world of couture is mourning his loss. In a statement after his death Carolina Herrera said: "Alexander McQueen was one-of-a-kind. One of the most talented designers of his generation. This is a big loss for the world."