Amelia Toro

Profile

Striking silhouettes made of artfully tailored silk and thick wool crepe line the gallerylike space of Amelia Toro’s Chelsea boutique. Toro, a flamenco dancer in her former years, favors feminine shapes with movement, comfortable designs, and stunning, understated accent details like pleating and windowpane cutouts. Toro is also an advocate for social opportunity and empowerment for Latin American women; it's why all her pieces are handmade in Toro’s factory in her hometown of Bogotá, Colombia, and each garment bears the signature of one of the 60 seamstresses she employs. The bold colors and simple shapes of her ready-to-wear line are accented by small flourishes of South American craftsmanship, such as the vivid geometric patterns of the artisanal Mochila bags that can be find lining the store's simple white shelves. — Julia Friedman