Johanna Ortiz might seem like a relative newcomer to the fashion game, at least in New York, though in truth she’s more seasoned than most would expect. The Colombian designer celebrates her 15th anniversary this year, and she kicked off the festivities today with an intimate show at Augustine, the trendy French bistro at the Beekman hotel in lower Manhattan. Ortiz loves to throw a party, and her hosting skills were on full display—each table was laden with tasty nibbles, including delicious quinoa arepas, pandebonos, and buñuelos. There were classic panama hats perched on every seat, too; welcome pick-me-ups on an unseasonably gloomy June morning.
Ortiz’s buoyant Latin American spirit came through as the models meandered through the space. Most of them were wearing the kind of easy flat sandals you might pack for a tropical vacation, right in step with the laid-back elegance of the brand. Up until now, Ortiz has made a name for herself on ruffled party dresses with a coquettish off-the-shoulder line. She moved away from that familiar silhouette this season toward a longer, leaner look. Neatly cropped bustier-style tops replaced the label’s voluminous going-out tops and were coupled with tiered maxi skirts that swept the tiled floor.
Ortiz usually has an art reference pinned to her mood board, and for Resort she turned to the Hawaiian landscapes of painter Pegge Hopper. You could see Hopper’s influence in the palm frond motifs that covered a neatly tailored suit. It was her reference to the spellbinding 19th-century flamenco dancers conjured by British artist George Owen Wynne Apperley, however, that was the most game-changing element in the collection. The standout evening dresses were cut from the distinctive fringed scarves that have been made in the south of Spain for centuries, a tradition that traveled down the Silk Road from the Far East eons before that. Wrapped asymmetrically around the body or over the shoulder like a cape, the frocks added a nice sense of movement to the lineup; proof that there is life for romantic fashion statements beyond ruffles.
