Lago Blu Blog Fashion & Lifestyle: ULLA JOHNSON S/S 2019 SHOW

For Spring 2019, Ulla Johnson stitches together a multihued tapestry of pattern and form. The collection conjures a vibrant and bold vision of a world that is tight-knit and inclusive, where boundaries are collapsed, creating a visual métissage. Taking her cues from the reimagined Victoriana worn by the women of the Herero people of Namibia, and the abstract genius of the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Johnson explores the way in which women have used the visual language of craft and color to create symbolic meaning.

Pushing her signature engagement with skilled craftswomen to new heights, Johnson worked with artisans the world over to create garments lavished with time and attention. Fully beaded pinafores and wrapped tops and skirts were created with Maasai women in Nairobi. Crocheted garments featuring bold stripes and spliced square motifs were handknit in Peru, while mixed indigo patterns and trailing florals were hand stitched and intricately sequined in India. A pulled thread embroidery, hundreds of hours in the making, is molded into corseted gowns and open work skirts that capture Johnson’s distinctive confluence of tailoring and ease.

Working in an earthy palette of clay and sunflower, shot through with bright pink and cobalt, Johnson explores twisted and tied silhouettes, starched ruffles, and exaggerated volumes. Mixed batik prints are tied together for graphic effect, folk embroideries from her native Balkans are laid over shibori dots and stripes, while organza is pigment dyed and hand pleated into new proportions. Strips of raffia are embroidered and woven together with grosgrain and sculpted into full skirts and bodices that crisscross and hew closely to the body. Metallics come to the fore as rose gold lace is crafted into gowns short and long featuring rows of frothy frills, lurex yarns are knitted into sculptural essentials, and a floral jacquard cast in silver and gold dances across ethereal silks and delicate lamé.

Accessories are focal this season and continue the cultural dialogue spoken in the ready to wear. Inspired by Samurai armor, soaring heels and delicate flats are built of braided multicolor leathers finished with oversize knots and patterned cross stitching. Metallic ropes are woven together into caged stiletto and babouche shapes, as multicolored hand beaded straps made in Kenya are wrapped and layered around the foot and ankle to maximalist effect. The bag range elaborates on the dialogue around craft, as macramé is twisted into striped totes large and small. Painted beads are strung together into squared volumes and finished with raffia braided handles, and canvas is sandwashed or printed and trimmed with leather details and whimsical two-tone pompoms.