At the up-for-sale Maison de l’Amérique Latine in Paris, Johanna Ortiz’s spring 2027 collection treated heritage not as costume, but as a living practice. The designer grounded the show in optimism. After Colombia’s earthquake, she said, the collection was about “enjoying a little bit of life.”

Begging the question: “What do we carry within us from one generation to the next?” The designer showed Wayuu mochila and Nariño iraca-palm baskets, updated for urban attire.

The collection also offered plenty of colorful prints and fabrications. The silhouettes began with cloth and gesture, with the fabric gathering at the waist, or falling from a shoulder.

“I’m a woman that loves to embrace the human body and that the cloth comes into the body and does not restrict anything. I really enjoy draping, and the flowiness of the fabrics,” she said.

Pattern and color came from Maya civilization, and she also highlighted her collaboration with Paraguayan designer Mar Filártiga on woven pieces.

“The Maya references taught me something very different about pattern. I loved the confidence of mixing geometry, stripes, checks and color. It reminded me that something can be exuberant and still be sophisticated,” she added.

Colombian artist Aria Vega’s electrifying performance throughout the show, meanwhile, made an exuberant case for Latin American excellence in Paris.