Suora, by Nasheli Juliana Ortiz González, earned its designer Emerging Fashion Designer of the Year at the 2017 International Design Awards, along with Gold in women’s prêt-à-porter. The collection is a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional uniform of the Loretto Sisters, a community of nuns active in human rights movements, who “work for justice and act for peace.”
Ortiz González limited herself to black and white, which shifts attention to silhouette and cut. The habit’s familiar elements become architectural: stiff, folded headpieces, cropped and cut-away bodices, and sharply angled collars set against bare skin.
The project is interesting less as a reference to religious dress than as a reflection on what a uniform communicates. A habit is designed to subordinate the individual to a shared purpose. By isolating its shapes and sharpening them, Suora asks whether the visual language of service and conviction can be carried into contemporary fashion, and what happens to its meaning when it is.
Official award record: International Design Awards winners
A uniform is a garment that speaks for a purpose larger than its wearer.
International Design Awards, 2017 — Emerging Fashion Designer of the Year