ss 2026

“The Art of the Unwanted”

I grew up as a middle-class kid in Ecuador, surrounded by piles of plastic from the auto-parts junkyard owned by my parents.

I remember my dad saying, “I make money from the trash,” He was always finding potential in what others discarded and my mother always taking care of doing the proper recycling in our surroundings. This unconsciously shaped how I see the world and understand creativity as a channel to survive a creative career in an expensive city like New York. As I began exploring my heritage and culture, I realized I was following my parent's behavior, only through fabric.

The recent wave of Ecuadorian artists and artisans immigrating to New York has influenced me deeply. Seeing these immigrants from my home country first hand has made me reflect on Ecuador’s enduring impact on the fashion world and the importance of visualizing it. For example, the internationally popular misnamed Panama hat—which I’ve reimagined in this collection—is actually Ecuadorian. It is a symbol of our cultural heritage and the intersection of identities.

This genderless collection blends the working-class aesthetics of two distinct cultures—American and Ecuadorian—while also highlighting the value of up-cycling clothes and recycling fabric scraps.

So-called “ugly” textile waste, as well as dead-stock fabrics  donated by Long Island nonprofit Materials For the Arts— is reborn via weaving, hand embroidery made by Ecuadorian artisans Sumakmaki and Toquilla Straw weaver Maria Sanchez.  The collection embraces imperfection, dances with the unexpected, and celebrates process and happy accidents. 

The color palette reflects the natural qualities of the textiles themselves—raw, earthy tones To create dimension and ground the collection, I used wet, white clay to draw “ghosts’ or “skeletons” of the workwear silhouettes atop my garments, signifying the many lives these recognizable styles have lived. 

This collection is about retelling stories, blending cultural aesthetics, through an expressive—and personal—lens.

Kimberly Ortega