Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño (born January 8, 1939) is a Venezuelan fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded her eponymous company in 1980. Herrera was born in Caracas, Venezuela, a daughter of Guillermo Pacanins Acevedo, an air-force officer who later became Governor of Caracas, and his wife, the former María Cristina Niño Passios.
Based in New York City since 1980, throughout the 1970s and 1980s she was named one of the best dressed women in the world. Her clients have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Renee Zellweger.
The designer is a Goodwill Ambassador and Facilitator for IIMSAM -the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition and the organization's affirmative action programmes, The Right to Food Campaign Initiative Against Malnutrition and Fashion United Against Malnutrition.
IIMSAM works to promote the use of micro-algae Spirulina (Spirulina Platensis) to eradicate malnutrition, achieve food security and bridge the health divide; and its programmes have a special priority for the Developing and Least Developed Countries (LDC).
Herrera is a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence as well as Spain's Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, which was presented to her in 2002 by King Juan Carlos I.
She also was awarded the Gold Medal of the Queen Sofía Spanish Insitute in 1997
