Nasheli Juliana Ortiz-González, chair of the Fashion Design and Textiles Department at Moore, will be featured on the new Netflix show Next in Fashion, premiering Wednesday, January 29.
"I'm one of the group of designers selected from around the world," Ortiz said. "I'm still in shock with the fact that I did this!"
Hosted by Tan France of the reality show Queer Eye and fashion designer Alexa Chung, Next in Fashion features 18 designers who are competing for a $250,000 prize and the chance to debut their collection with luxury fashion retailer Net-a-Porter.
Ortiz said 36 participants met in Los Angeles, and over a week the contestant pool was whittled down to 18. Those remaining were then paired off into nine teams for the show.
Viewers will see the designers in action in a large fashion studio.
"I think it was a great opportunity and I met a lot of great designers," she said. "It was an honor to work with such a wonderful team, production, the hosts and designers that are now friends."
Read more about the show here.
PARIS-BOUND
Ortiz designs under her brand name Nasheli Juliana. She has been invited to show her work during Paris Fashion Week, and will present her collection at the Intercontinental Le Grand Hotel February 29.
She describes herself as a very detail-oriented designer and believes in "slow fashion," which focuses on sustainability.
"My work is inspired by the gold rush era," she said. "I am working with denim. I have been thinking a lot about production and materials and recycling materials and how fashion damages the world's water."
What we now know as denim was originated by gold rush miners as a durable work overgarment. Denim is one of the most damaging elements in fashion is because of the amount of water and all of the processes and chemicals that are used to create the different washes.
"We are so focused on having many garments for every occasion," she said. "This layering and repurposing of garments, we need to think about it. (My collection) is like looking back to the future and learning from what works."
Ortiz is focusing on technical elements in her collection, from the pockets to the construction of the denim, layering and silhouettes.
"I'm using the white button-down shirt that miners wore," she said. "They rolled up their sleeves to be able to clean the dirt from the gold. These oldest elements we didn't notice with the functionality of the garment: We are going to be translating this to this new collection inspired by this history."
