Johanna Ortiz might not be a fashion label you’ll recognize, but her clothes are selling like hotcakes in department stores right now. The designer is something of a household name in her native Colombia, and in the past three years, she’s managed to take her brand of South American romance worldwide. Fans of the line will be familiar with Ortiz’s signature ruffles, and the growing popularity of her glamorous shapes and off-the-shoulder eveningwear has coincided with the recent trend for billowing statement sleeves. There were voluminous going-out tops aplenty for Fall 2017, though Ortiz admitted that she is slowly transitioning her love of ruffles into an obsession with bows. They were all over the new collection: fastened obi-style around a peplum jacket, sitting at the shoulder of asymmetric cocktail dresses, or cinching the waist of floral evening gowns.
On the flip side of the unabashed commitment to pretty is a fondness for shirting that started with the button-downs that Ortiz would wear out of her husband’s suitcase when the couple traveled. She added an extra layer of practicality to her popular puff-sleeved striped blouses by fusing them with a bodysuit closure that slips neatly into boyfriend jeans without any unsightly bunching. Ortiz had been tinkering with the idea of political slogan tees for Fall 2017, and the feminist credo of her shirts, one of which was printed with the word sisterhood in all capital letters, was in line with examples on both sides of the pond. Perhaps the most meaningful aspect of her work is the support she is giving to craftswomen in her native Colombia, where the collection is made. Judging by her current success, that talented circle of dressmakers is only likely to grow.
