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Carolina Herrera projects her style with ease, whether in her home, at her office or anywhere she goes. The award-winning Venezuelan designer not only dresses the world's most stylish

women, but is in fact one of them; for years her name has appeared on the "International Best-Dressed List." See also: Rachel Welch, 71, and aging beautifully Herrera was born

María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño in Caracas, on Jan. 8, 1939. At age 40, after leading a very full life, she moved to New York and reinvented herself. She was financially set, happily

married to Reinaldo Herrera and the mother of four girls. Taking a 180-degree turn, she began her career as a fashion designer, a difficult and competitive business in which she's been

highly successful for 30 years. At 73, Herrera walks tall, shoulders back, and projects an inner peace. When she greets us in her New York office surrounded by photos of her family,

she's slim, polished and dressed impeccably in a simple skirt and a white blouse. During the interview, Herrera shares her thoughts on what makes a woman beautiful, which pieces

constitute a perfect wardrobe and how important personal happiness is to beauty. YOU GREW UP IN CARACAS, VENEZUELA, AND THOUGH YOU'VE LIVED IN NEW YORK FOR MANY YEARS AND ARE A U.S.

CITIZEN, YOU SEEM VERY LATIN AMERICAN TO ME. Of course I am! I grew up in Venezuela with my three sisters. My father was Guillermo Pacanins, a former governor of Caracas, and my mother was

María Cristina Niño, from whom I learned the value of a good education, studying, curiosity and the appreciation of beautiful things. And that's why I'm very close to my four

daughters. We speak every day, no matter where in the world we are; and if you ask them, they'll tell you that from an early age I passed on to them the values my own mother taught me.

My family — my husband, my daughters, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, all of them — are the most important thing in the world to me. As to Reinaldo, we've been married many

years, he's my best friend, and we have fun together. A sense of humor is very important in human relationships. Don't you think? WORK AND BUSINESS TRAVEL — DON'T THEY TAKE UP

A LOT OF YOUR TIME? I'm very organized and find time for everything. I'm often asked that question, and it surprises me, because when you're organized and budget your time

well, there's no problem. Also, when the work day is over, at 5 p.m., I don't take work home. What doesn't get done in the office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. can wait until the

next day. YOU ARE MUCH ADMIRED. WHAT IS YOUR SECRET TO ACHIEVING THE HARMONY YOU PROJECT? Feeling good about yourself and your life is very important. I'm a happy woman, happy with my

husband, my daughters, my grandchildren. We all get along quite well, and that keeps me centered. DOES ANYTHING MAKE YOU NERVOUS OR ANXIOUS? Of course, especially when we're about to

bring out a new collection! But I control myself very well! Nobody realizes when I'm nervous, because I appear quite calm; if I fall apart, we all fall apart, and that can't

happen. I was brought up with considerable discipline, and I was taught it wasn't proper to display certain very private emotions in public.