On Tuesday night, Johanna Ortiz presented her Fall/Winter 2026 collectsion in the ballroom of cultural center Círculo de Bellas Arte, kicking off Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid as its guest designer. The Spanish capital marks a shift from previous show locations of New York (resort 2019, resort 2020, and resort 2024) and Paris. But the move is more than a change of scenery. It signals the next leg in Ortiz’s growth strategy.
The designer launched her eponymous brand in her hometown of Cali, Colombia, in 2003. But today, its largest market is the US. Johanna Ortiz opened a standalone store on Madison Avenue in 2024, joining its three outposts in Colombia, around 200 wholesale doors, and a number of pop-ups the designer calls “caravans”. The next pop-up shop is slated to open in the Spanish resort city of Marbella this summer.
“[Pop-ups] are a nice way of knowing our customers, since our Johanna Ortiz model started as wholesale,” Ortiz tells me the morning of the show. We meet at private members’ club Metropolis, where she’s been hosting a trunk show out of a suite all week. “It’s more than just a shopping event — we turn it into an experience. We host cocktail parties, lunches, and moments of fun.”
Expanding to Europe and developing the direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel are key focuses for Ortiz. “Having a stronger presence in Europe is definitely one of my goals,” she says. “We were looking for the right moment, and I think that the right moment is coming.”
The brand currently generates 60% of its revenue from wholesale, down from 90% three years ago. The pivot to DTC has helped drive strong growth, according to the brand. Sales went from $17 million in 2024 to approximately $30 million in 2025. But for an artisanally led label like Johanna Ortiz, rapid growth can present production challenges. “We are trying to keep up since we are a vertically integrated company,” she says. “We manage the supply chain and produce everything in Colombia, and we’re still privately family-owned.”
Around 90% of products are made in Colombia, while knitwear is made in Peru and outerwear in Spain. The company employs 460 people across its atelier and operations in Colombia, about 78% of whom are women, and in 2016, launched a program called “Escuela Johanna Ortiz” to promote the development of sewing and embroidery skills among vulnerable populations and local artisans.
The show in Madrid is well-timed. The Spanish capital is enjoying a luxury boom, fueled by investment and spending from high-net-worth individuals from South America. (Mexican clients were spotted attending the Johanna Ortiz trunk show at Metropolis.) “Madrid is having a renaissance; there is something in the air,” says luxury consultant Roopal Pate, who attended Tuesday’s show. It’s the second time Patel has visited Madrid in six months, following Carolina Herrera’s SS26 show last September, which was also held in the city. “Wes Gordon’s show for Carolina Herrera [a Venezuelan designer] and now Johanna Ortiz’s show put a strong light on the synergies between Madrid and South America.”
Aside from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid, running from March 17 to 22, the city will host the new Formula 1 Tag Heuer Gran Premio de España 2026 in September, as a reflection of this energy.
From Colombia to Europe
The FW26 collectsion featured plenty of outerwear, which will help support the brand’s European expansion. “It’s the first time we’re doing a lot of outwear,” Ortiz says. “Being tropical, being from Colombia and not having seasons has been a challenge as a designer to understand the needs for Fall/Winter. But this time, it was about filling in the closet for all the essentials. I really feel it’s the natural evolution of the brand — Johanna Ortiz is not just a one-occasion dress.”
“That olive military jacket with the flowy skirt is a great mix of utility-meets-boho glamour,” Patel said post-show. “Johanna’s appeal is that she has built a very loyal following globally, whether it’s New York or Paris, and this show in Madrid is a testament to her vision for how she’s planning to position the brand internationally. This [aesthetic] she brings from Colombia has a real foundation and root within the artisanal craft it is so well known for. It’s incredible to see the ecosystem that she has built in Cali, with all of the women that she works with and employs.”
“We Latin American designers are bringing something different, and I think that’s being discovered in fashion, art, and music,” Ortiz says. “It’s exciting that we can show the world the best of Latin America. That was part of why we started Johanna Ortiz — we wanted to produce everything in Colombia, give back to the community, and present a positive face of Latin America.”
