A little more than a decade after founding her label, Johanna Ortiz finds herself the matriarch of a luxury lifestyle brand spanning women’s wear, homewares, and a school that teaches dressmaking skills—primarily to women—and supports traditional crafts produced by two dozen Indigenous communities.
For a fall collection called Candelaria, Ortiz said her muse was a mysterious, elegant collector of experiences and things. For her emblematic prints, she found inspiration in the rich craftsmanship and symbolism of pre-Columbian cultures, in particular their intricate gold work and beadwork suggesting fruit.
Even so, this 56-look lineup dovetails with the sheer opulence and feel of the Art Deco movement, which this year celebrates its centennial. A saturated palette of chocolate, emerald, burgundy, and black was used as a foil for intricate motifs and lush contrasts. Fluid silks mingled with plush velvet and brocades while statement feathers, fringe, and intricate embroideries abounded on body-skimming evening wear such as a long dress and cape in rosy-beige chiffon fully sequined with creeper vines. Throughout, floral motifs such as the magnolia, passion flower, and the trademark palm tree inspired by the designer’s everyday vista in Cali were also intended to evoke qualities like strength and grace. “I wanted to do the kind of special pieces that you would want to pass down,” she offered.
Day options included tailored black pants with a draped and knotted waist detail and riffs on ranchero motifs, blown up in white on a black car coat or in rich chocolate suede on a dark denim pencil skirt, paired here with a cropped suede jacket and Ortiz’s signature cowboy boots. A burgeoning bag and belt lineup likewise picked up on that theme.
But nighttime is when Ortiz continues to shine, from comparatively minimalistic dresses and blouses in espresso brown or black with graceful draping, plunging necklines, and tonal feather cuffs, to exuberant ’70s-leaning prints—here in winking lamé with a shearling vest, but the designer grounded hers with the black velvet smoking jacket. An all-gold ensemble with a pretty scalloped motif was seemingly wrought from the precious metal, a sartorial nod to the designer’s latest collaboration with the Colombian jeweler Omar Hurtado. A tribute to pre-Hispanic cultures, their capsule collection in gold-plated silver uses organic shapes and semi-precious stones chosen for symbolic meanings (vitality, protection, renewal) on amulets, amphoras, and other modernized ancient designs.
Today, even with 460-strong employees and a new boutique on Madison Avenue, the designer said she considers her enterprise more of a family than a business. In April, for example, she will open a five-month pop-up at Le Bon Marché to showcase not just her clothes and accessories, but also Colombian craftsmanship, with a tinge of magical realism.
“I’m honored to work with them,” she said. “It’s all been very organic, but I think that when you have a clear vision and a purpose you can translate that to the world.”
