Palm trees, flowers, tropical heat, sea. From the Colombian city of Cali, where she was born, Johanna Ortiz brought with her everything it takes to become a famous designer: her clothes are sold all over the world. Johanna Ortiz studied fashion design in Florida and upon graduation, she returned to her native Colombia, where she founded her own label. The floral cheerfulness, which is her stylistic imprint, is also reflected in the fashion-bijoux that she makes in her hometown. A part of her necklaces and earrings, composed of palm fibers, brass, shells, but also natural emeralds (Colombia is the homeland of green stone) are handcrafted with Iraca palm fibers by the artisan association of Juanita Castilo: a artisan who employs 204 Sandoná artisan women and helps to preserve the artisan heritage.
Traditionally, men have the task of harvesting Iraca at night during the waning moon, selecting its color and fineness. After cleaning and washing, and sometimes dyeing, women of all ages begin to weave in family workshops. Dyes are extracted from seeds, leaves, branches, beef tongue, walnut, black cedar and minerals to achieve a wide color palette. With this beautiful artisan technique, several pieces have been made that evoke the idea of sea, sand and vacation.
