Johanna Ortiz Brings Colombia to Paris With Pop-up at Le Bon Marché

PARIS — Johanna Ortiz is bringing a style of Colombia to Paris. 

Recognized for her luxurious resortwear and swim designs, the designer is about to unveil a four-month pop-up area at Le Bon Marché on Saturday, laying the groundwork for a extra everlasting presence within the French capital, the place she’s offered her collections since 2017. 

Positioned on the second flooring, the two,370-square-foot “La Plaza Johanna Ortiz” activation is impressed by the markets of the coastal metropolis of Cartagena and the colourful structure of the coffee-producing area of Quindío, Ortiz instructed WWD.

“It’s a little bit combination of magical realism and of Colombia via our eyes,” she stated by way of video convention from Key Biscayne, Fla. “I’m actually enthusiastic about it, as a result of it’s an enormous alternative to point out a little bit little bit of my world via a Le Bon Marché expertise.” 

Her ready-to-wear model has been carried solely in Paris on the division retailer for nearly 4 years, however this can be her first alternative to showcase different classes akin to homewares. 

“Johanna Ortiz is extra like a life-style, within the sense that we at all times wish to present what occurs round it with artisans, with our heritage,” she defined. “When it’s solely a rack in an area with 5 or 6 attire, we can not actually present the whole lot that we work on.”

The area will carry an unique 250-piece capsule assortment of Caribbean-inspired clothes and accessories, with gadgets starting from a coral palm-printed solar gown to a leopard-print bikini, Lurex swimsuits, a colourful printed gown and a collection of shawls.

Collaborations on provide embrace candles made with French perfumer Bon Parfumeur; eyewear with Italian specialist L.G.R., and pickleball paddles with U.S. model Recess.

They may sit alongside ceramic tableware crafted and painted by hand in Carmen de Viboral, in addition to merchandise from her collaboration with Litoral, a company devoted to preserving and instructing ancestral crafts like werregue weaving. An artisan can be readily available to exhibit the basket-making method.

“We wished to point out the tip product, but additionally the way it’s carried out and the way girls and communities are supported via this basket,” Ortiz stated. “There must be an expertise and there must be a connection while you’re shopping for one thing.”

There can be a tiny café nook with two seats, and guests should purchase a collection of Colombian merchandise together with Huge chocolate and Café Quindío espresso. 

Ortiz, who runs the corporate together with her sister Paula Ortiz, stated her enterprise has seen “good, regular development” at Le Bon Marché and he or she hopes to have a standalone retailer in Paris “within the hopefully close to future,” after opening her first abroad boutique in New York Metropolis final yr.  

She was in Florida for a private look at Bal Harbour Outlets, the place her seasonal retailer has been extended to a full-year lease, and a trunk present with Moda Operandi in Palm Seashore. 

Ortiz plans to carry her touring “Caravan” idea to Madrid on the finish of Might, to be adopted by the Hamptons and a 3rd, as-yet-undisclosed, location this summer time. 

Having dressed celebrities together with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, former First Girl Michelle Obama and Amal Clooney, she stays dedicated to the U.S. market regardless of U.S. President Donald Trump’s introduction of a brand new 10 % tariff on imports from Colombia, the place greater than 90 % of her items are made.

“We wish to nonetheless carry on producing in Colombia,” she stated, noting that her workshop employs 460 individuals and has its personal coaching faculty. “At this second, we have to settle for no matter they [the Trump administration] are doing, and we have to make issues work with the situations. I’m nervous.”

Although the model sources materials from Italy and France, its greater worth level ought to function a buffer, the designer stated.

“Being within the luxurious phase, it separates us from the quick trend and different producers which are extra huge producers,” Ortiz stated. “We’re standing in, I simply wish to name it a ‘protected’ — greater than ‘comfy’ — zone at this second.”