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Johanna Ortiz always loved setting a beautiful table. But over the years, she lost track of that love. After all, running a fashion line and taking care of three young boys doesn’t exactly leave a lot of free time to ruminate over flatware positioning. Let alone what to even put on those artisanal plates: “I never cooked!” Ortiz says, laughing.
But the pandemic made life slow down. And for the first time in a long time, Ortiz rediscovered her affinity for arranging—how a well-appointed tablecloth can elevate even a hastily-ordered takeout dinner, how different sized glasses could double as decor, how flowers, or colorful fruits, can lighten any mood. Sure, it wasn’t anything too formal (”I tried to play around things I had around the house,” she says), nor was it anything sizable (the only people surrounding her during lockdown was her immediate family). Yet Ortiz found joy in the art of the table. “I’ve always enjoyed dressing up,” she says. “I realized entertaining was an extension of that.”
And now, it’s also an extension of her brand. Today, on Moda Operandi, she officially launches Johanna Ortiz Home.
The collection includes everything from napkins, placemats and tablecloths to cocktail napkins, bread baskets, bowls, and candle holders. (That’s just to name a select few—there’s a “little bit of everything,” says Ortiz.) Design aficionados will immediately recognize hallmarks of Ortiz’s style: there are palm trees and raffia tassels aplenty, as well as recycled prints from archival collections. "Johanna’s tabletop collection is just like her runway collections—tropical, elegant and fun. I love the artisanal touches and archival prints. There’s a party in every place setting,” Lauren Santo Domingo, founder of Moda Operandi, tells Vogue.
Ortiz hired artisans from across her home country of Colombia to bring her vision to life: the quartz plates come from the small town of Carmen de Viboral, and are hand painted. She sourced a pair of wooden birds from carvers in Puerto Colombia. Glasses come from blowers in Bogotá. Meanwhile, placemats are woven from Iraca fiber, which is derived from Colombia’s national tree. It’s a tumultuous time for the country, which is currently embroiled in civil unrest as citizens protest inequality and police violence. Yet Ortiz’s new collection shines a soft spotlight on the abundance of beauty located within its borders. “All this talent has been around forever,” says Ortiz.
One final requirement? A little bit of character. There’s nothing in Ortiz’s collection that doesn’t, well, look distinctly Ortiz. You’re not exactly going to mistake glass salt and pepper shakers topped with a mini palm tree for another brand, nor the olive and vinegar carafes adorned with a bright blue bird. As Ortiz puts it, “I wanted everything to have personality.”
Below, shop a select few pieces from the new collection.
