Johanna Ortiz is entering the New Year with her namesake label’s 20th anniversary on the horizon; she’s also planning to open her first global retail flagship in New York this summer. The impressive milestones have inspired the Colombian designer to look back on her brand’s history.
“I’ve been going back and forth to the archives and found it’s been nice because I’ve found the timelessness. It’s been really comforting that I’ve been strong since 20 years ago to now; it’s been the same kind of constant,” she said of her upcoming resort collection. While that line will be more of a retrospective, she continued to infuse signature details into pre-fall, which Ortiz described as: “…the heritage of Native American cultures converges with her sophisticated tropical ancestral roots.”
The inspiration stemmed from Ortiz’s desire to celebrate cultural dialog that honors the beauty of craftsmanship and heritage through the study of global cultures and lens of her own heritage and design ethos. Although she did not expand on specific traditional techniques, the collection melded Ortiz’s tropical roots a la signature palms, strong colors, innovative handcraft and embellishments, and discovery of fabrics with traditional Native American motifs. The result included a range of printed tunics with jewelry-like embroideries; a cotton tank dress with crochet bra-top; a suede thread-work embroidery skirt and fringed halter top, or three pretty black and white ensembles with crochet lace inserts and shredded organza [in lieu of feathers] tassels.
In addition to a handful of timeless monochrome gowns, an exploration into new volumes à la a pouffed peplum top and a few adorable shimmering caftans, Ortiz continued to push her textile innovation to create the collection’s standout linen basket-weave ruffled looks with black velvet polka dots.