Instant vacation is what Johanna Ortiz’s palm-embellished looks seem to promise. The designer offers different ways to arrive at your destination by applying the motif to a variety of silhouettes (long or short, fitted or caftan), using responsible materials of different weights, featuring all manner of hand embellishments, including appliqué, beading, and embroidery. Knits with organic patterns in earthen tones follow the lines of the body; “raffia” trimmings add texture and sound to dance-ready dresses.
The palette, theme, and use of a specific regional cording technique, are specific to this resort collection, but Ortiz’s approach to design is both consistent and multidimensional. She’s not only interested in the optics of fashion, but in preserving heritage and craft, and how that can be a vehicle for supporting people (90% of the brand’s workforce is female).
This collection furthers Ortiz’s mission, but it also speaks, as fashion must, to the times. Her designs, like many this season, address reemergence and celebration and the overall vibe is dressed. Her tunics can be worn as minidresses, but they looked smashing over pants. A particularly intriguing and versatile piece was a wide, corded corset belt that can be worn to cover the cut-out in a slim-line dress, but will also instantly elevate pieces like slip dresses and T-shirts.
It would be interesting to see what Ortiz could do with swimwear and other more basic pieces that convey more of a relaxed, sand-between-your-toes mood. In the meantime, there are stunning party pieces embroidered with matchstick-like sequins that sparkle and pop as brightly as bubbles in a glass of New Year’s champagne.
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