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CANDICE LAKE“I was trying
to figure out
how to use
different
colou r. Th is
collection is
about the
woman who
is from out
of time, who
wants to
feel relaxed ”impoverished neighbourhoods and slums.
“When I started my business, I not only
wanted to be known as a Colombian designer
with great designs but also to give back to my
country.” Most of the women have stayed on
to work with Ortiz, and some have left to start
their own businesses, too. Semillero also
organises educators from around the world to
show new techniques to the women. “We can
teach them how to do high-end clothing, and
the teachers focus them on finishings or
trimmings. Mixed in with their own
knowledge, it’s a really unique combination –
it makes it part of the Johanna Ortiz label.”
Influenced by her interior designer mother,
it was textile design that first caught her
attention in fashion and is apparent in
herlabel today. Her autumn/winter ‘17/’18
collection, photographed here, introduced
sumptuous prints in unexpected colour
combinations like mint green sprinkled with
red flowers. “I was trying to figure out how to
use different colour. This collection is about
the woman who is from out of time, who
wants to feel relaxed.” Her forthcoming
spring collection was inspired by a holiday to
Japan with the Eastern country’s aesthetics
appearing subtly in kimono shapes and
painterly prints. Bursts of inspiration can
come out of nowhere – her eldest son, who is
18 (she has two other boys, one 13 and the
other 10), was playing polo in West Palm
Beach in Florida, and Ortiz was struck by the
horseriding and polo gear, which she is
pondering tinkering with for a future
collection. She has since expanded to
handbags, earrings, a bridal collection,
swimwear and shoe collaborations with
Tabitha Simmons and Aquazzura, designed
by fellow Colombian Edgardo Osorio.VOGUE VIEWPOINT
→Ruffled velvet tops with denim
from Johanna Ortiz’s autumn/
winter ’17/’18 collection.DECEMBER 2017