Johanna Ortiz experimented with shapes and materials this season, creating sculptural accents with raffia. She regularly works with textiles in accessories, but this season she was inspired by Peruvian artist Ana Teresa Barboza and she looked to her embroidered landscapes for new ways to play with textiles. As a result, she put it front and center on tiered bodices and waterfall skirts, and she wove it with linen to create flowing fringes on the skirts.
Ortiz also turned to South American gauchos to add Western touches, as evidenced by tone-on-tone embroidery on jackets and skirts with contrasting motifs. Other styles recalled the flamenco influences he often used in tiered, flared skirts, while he added volume in puffed sleeves and folded ruffles on blouses.
She expanded her prints into larger, more abstract interpretations, using rust and palm tones that were more muted than her traditionally bright palette, but still vibrant.
It now has 490 artisans in its vertically integrated production facilities in Colombia and focused on crafts to give them unexpected touches. The brand has just opened an office and showroom in New York, ahead of a flagship planned for the second quarter of next year.
Oritz says he doesn’t have a specific demographic in mind with his pieces. “Every woman is going to have a moment for Johanna Ortiz and I don’t want her to miss it,” he said. To that end, he will expand her swimwear line and launch a full bridal collection next year.
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