Juliet Johnstone: In A World Of Her Own

Check out our exclusive interview below!

Hello! Let’s jump right in. How are you?

I'm good! Sorry it’s so hot in here.

Don’t even worry. I feel like it gets the creative juices flowing.

I feel like I’m back in New York City!

Truly! You said you're from LA though, correct?

Oh yes, I’m from the valley. I had the normal nice valley upbringing, quite suburban.

The valley is the best! Were you always into fashion and painting?

I come from a very art centric family. My dad is a musician and my mom worked in fashion, so I grew up always surrounded by art and music. My parents were always super supportive of me doing my thing and doing whatever I wanted. It honestly would have been weird if I did anything else but art. I have six siblings and they are all doing music. It's funny, I’m the only girl and the only one who is doing fashion.

Oh wow! You wanted to follow in your moms footsteps.

Yeah! I also think I wanted to be kinda different from them. Do my own thing.

How did you get started in fashion?

I moved to New York when I was just 18 to study art at Parsons. I was actually doing the fine arts thing. Going to school, living in China Town, assisting at galleries. I was working as a studio assistant for probably six or seven different people over the years and then one day just decided that it was time to come back here. Then literally six months after moving here, started doing this.

That’s awesome! What was the the turning point, the spark. What brought you to this?

It was totally by chance to be honest. I always joke with my friends that it was just an accident. I accidentally have a clothing brand, it was not intentional at all, still isn’t really. I have a lot of trouble calling it a clothing brand because it doesn't even feel like that to me.

What is the inspiration for the silhouettes of the pieces?

I make my own pants now, but in the beginning I was painting on vintage Dickies, Carhartt, Stan Rays, things like that. Now we do our own cut and sew here, at first I was just painting on my own carpenter pants for fun. I’ve always kind of like had my own style and wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to paint on things and wear things that were a little bit crazy. Like I said, I just painted on my own pants and was wearing them out to bars, going to Wasteland, doing the rounds. And the whole time I was wearing my painted pants and people were stopping me in the street asking if I sold them, if I had any more, and thats when the lightbulb kinda went off. I stuck to the painter pant thing because I’m a painter and I just love the way they fit.I figured I would just see what happened. So I started putting them up on Instagram. I didn't have a website, nothing. This was also probably three weeks before COVID. So end of February of 2020.

Oh right before COVID.

Truly right before. So when COVID happened I just started posting a pair of day on Instagram they started selling out. The first pair sold out in 10 minutes, and I didn't have a lot of followers. I probably had around 5,000, not anything huge, and it wasn't like I sold clothes, people weren't used to buying clothes from me, but someone bought them and then people just kept buying them.

I mean I’m not surprised!

It was just so not something I ever thought would happen. Then I realized I could actually make good money doing this. At first I was charging around $250, $300 for a pair. Now the customs are $600 on my website just because the demand is so high it takes a long time, but back then I didn't really think of it as my job. It was just like a fun thing, but they kept selling out and I just went with it.

How did you deal with the demand at first? That must have been a crazy transition.

I have a couple of friends who work in fashion who really helped me set things off once I got serious about doing this full time. I called them up and was like, 'can you teach me about production? Do you know anyone who could help me make a website, how should I be shipping this?' I knew nothing. I don’t come from a business background, I just wanted to make the clothes.

It all just really fell into your lap. That's so great, I mean, that's sometimes the best thing. When it’s natural.

It was super, super natural. Then the tipping point of when it like really shot off was— well COVID happened and it was like the world was ending, obviously a super scary traumatic time. But I was quarantining at my parents' house in the valley and I just had so much time to paint so I just kept going and kept painting on pants. Then one day out of nowhere I just got bunch of likes from Bella Hadid.

Oh, we love her.

We’re obsessed with her! But yeah, we have a few mutual friends and so when I saw she was liking a ton of photos of pants I texted our mutual friend and asked if she would want pants. He asked her for me and she did, which was amazing.

I mean that’s huge.

Oh, yeah. And I didn’t really have any expectations or anything because it’s Bella and it was COVID so everyone was inside and there probably wouldn't be any pictures of her our in them, but when I sent her some she just absolutely blew me up. She was posting grids, swipes, stories and tagging me in everything. I feel like she was probably bored quarantining and was like, let's just blow this girl up. That was the point when a bunch of other influencers and celebrities started to order pants and everything really started to grow.

I mean I just saw Devon’s custom Jesse pants, which are everything!

Yes! The Jesse pants. I’ve wanted to get her pants for a while and I love being able to get people custom pants like that. I have friends who are a couple and I made them matching pants with their names on the butt, I love it. But yeah, that was right around a year ago and thats how it all took off.

When did you make the transition into making things other than just pants? Cause I know you now have sweats, hoodies, hats, tank tops, bathing suits, the works.

I started adding new items in around last fall. I started with just tank tops, again pulling from what I wear pretty much every day. Its always been super important to me that everything is special and one of a kind. I think because I don’t have a traditional business background or anything like that I have the freedom to just do whatever I want. Everything has to be one-of-one, everything has to be numbered like artwork, and every graphic has to be different.

I mean everyone loves having something that is one of a kind!

Exactly! I mean sometimes it feels psycho and like a lot of work but I love it.

I also have to say I feel like the one of one model is really what makes your brand so special. The fact that everyone can have their very own, almost custom, Juliet Johnstone piece!

I feel like people are drawn to it! They want to play the game and have something special that’s just theirs that doesn’t look like anyone else's. Sometimes I feel like the only one who cares about the numbers, but then I get messages from people in their tank top and which number it is and it feels good to know that other people care!

You’ve got a lot of tank tops out now too, right?

Yeah. We used to do drops of 25, but now were on tank top, god, over 1000. It can get hard to keep track but it’s so worth it. I still do them all myself and I just can’t stop!

Look I don’t think anyone wants you to!

I hope! But yeah, we started with tank tops, then went into baby tees. We don’t have that many product categories. We also have hand painted and hand dyed trucker hats, printed bucket hats, one-of-one sweats. Everything but bathing suits are still one of one.

That makes sense. I feel like figuring out how to paint on a bathing suit would be a bit difficult.

It’s just a different kind of product. For example, the tank tops are printed, but it’s a print of the painting so it can keep its integrity for longer. The hardest thing is definitely keeping up with the one-of-one model, and the more people want it the higher the demand is and I can only do so much so fast. People ask why I don’t just make an image and print it over a thousand times, and that may be what a normal brand would do, but thats just not my model.

I think that is something that makes your brand so special! The dedication to sticking with what you want to provide, which is something special for everyone in your community.

Exactly! And I want everything to still be accessible for people too. I know not everyone can get a custom pair of pants so having the custom tank top is still something that is just theirs. I do have some more stuff coming out that isn’t going to be one-of-one. I have these club dresses that are kind of impossible to make one-of-one since I am also trying to keep the cost down and keep it as accessible as I can.

Everything is made in house correct?

Yeah basically everything is made right here. The hats are vintage but we paint and dye them here. All the cut and sew stuff is made right here. I think I’m at the point right now where I’m figuring out how this can grow, while still keeping everything intentional and keeping the one of a kind thing going.

Keeping things special.

Totally. And with some things like the dress, even though it isn’t going to be one-of-one, it's still super special and super high quality and beautiful. At first I was only offering custom orders for the pants. $600 is a lot of money to spend on pants, it’s hard for a lot of my customers to be able to afford that, but I wanted to provide them with an option that they could afford. That’s why I started selling pants with just one design on them, it still is the same fit as the carpenter pant and is the same quality, but its more accessible for people. Everything is still hand painted and hand dyed, just more affordable and still special.

Is it just a basic carpenter pant fit?

Oh no. I make sure that, even for the non customizable pants, the sizes can be whatever you need. It’s so hard as a woman to find pants like this that fit correctly, you’re either getting that little back gap, or it fits around the waist and not around your hips. That’s another reason why I make everything in house, I want people to be able to have a cute pair of pants that fits them perfectly.

That is so important. I feel like buying pants is one of the worst things in the world.

Right! It can be almost impossible to find something that is perfect around the waist, and hips, and long enough. All my pant sizes are custom. My customers are amazing and this community that we are building has really supported me through this.

I mean everything you make is so personal I’m not surprised. The font the designs are so unique to you and your brand, it’s so special. It makes people feel like they're a part of something.

Thank you!

Now I must say I am so obsessed with your designs. How did you come up with the fonts, the designs, the prints you use?

So everything is painted, even if its something that is printed on, the print is just a scan of one of my paintings.

How did you decide on the style you were going to stick to?

So first it started off super floral, just flowers everywhere. I think part of that was the time of the start of COVID, it was so traumatic and I just wanted to paint something that made me feel happy. Also, after art school I was having such a hard time making work. I felt stuck in this trap of having to make work that was so conceptual and have so much meaning that it blocked me from making anything. It felt like there was this pressure to change the world with a painting and I just couldn’t do that.

I wanted to make something that was fun and nice to look at, and I just wanted to look at a butterfly or a pink lily. My role can be to just make people happy or feel this childhood nostalgia. Butterflies became a huge part because they represent freedom and beauty, also everyone just like loves them. Now they’re just a part of me.

In terms of the text, I’m super inspired by sixties and seventies concert posters. Like I mentioned, my dad is a musician and he has so many old music books and posters and I just love the look of that block letter, swirly, sixties font. The Old English gothic font has become a huge part of my work too. I wanted my work have a bit more of a masculine edge so that font started comeing up more. Growing up I always loved the Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Chrome Hearts look so that is almost paying an homage to them.

Do you cut and paste any of the paintings you make?

Sometimes, it’s always mixing and matching things, but I try to not use the same image too many times. There are certain designs that have become kind of iconic with the brand like the JJ heart, a couple of the butterflies, one of the orange lilys. Some graphics people are just super drawn and always come back.

Can they ask for those when making a custom design?

Yeah! When getting a custom there is a box where people can write a little note and a lot of the time they will add in that they want a bird like the one from pant 180 and the color of pant 63. Sometimes they will say that their favorite butterfly is a monarch and they grew up in Idaho so I think of ways to bring that into the design. I had one person order pants who grew up in Kenya so I looked up the national flower of Kenya. I just love getting to know my customers and, again, make them something that is special just for them.

It’s a real community!

It really is. It’s been such a blessing to be able to create a business and community off of my love of art and also my love of people. To be able to give all of my customers a little something special. Giving them back the love that they have given me is more than I could have ever asked for out of this whole whirlwind. I can’t wait to see where it all goes from here.

I am so excited to see where this takes you and continue to watch you grow!

Thank you! And thank you for coming out here I am so glad we could make this happen!

Fashion

Happy 424 Day!

Simon Rasmussen — What's going on?

Guillermo Andrade — Right now we're just setting everything up.

So, what are you doing, is it a party?

Well, I kind of felt universally forced, right? Because 4/24/24, I was just like, I don’t really have a choice here. The stars also just kind of aligned, so to be honest, I got this settlement that came with a bunch of clothes so I had this idea to give back to the kids who fuck with us by allowing them to buy our shit first. Not handing stuff out for free, but to do it in a way where we could skip the middleman of the industry, so to speak, and not allow clothes to disappear into the abyss of Farfetch or whatever else. So what we’re going to do is a sort of warehouse sale, which we’ve never done before so that was really exciting for me. I didn’t want to do just another warehouse sale, so it’s like a sample sale turns rager. We teamed up with Adidas and a couple of other sponsors, then drinks, DJs, and a performance.

Sick, I love it.

Yeah. My dream sample sale. Also, it’s not just hoodies and t-shirts here in there, it’s proper collections from the past three seasons. I’m also not picking and choosing, trying to make it accessible, like this was the only way I could afford to buy shit when I was a kid, bro. Sample sales were the thing I looked forward to the most.

I feel you. In New York, there's the annual CDG sale, which is when I used to cop all my CDG.

The only time I could afford Rick. I flew to New York once for a Rick sample sale and I was like, Wow, I can't believe I got invited. And it was mental. I still have those pieces. I will never sell them. Not even because I got 'em cheap. It was also just really fun. Even on the flight to New York, I was like, I can't believe I'm going to New York for a sample sale, what a fucking loser I am. But it was like the adult version of when I was a kid and I was like, Wow, I can't believe I'm 20-something and I'm still doing the thing I was doing in high school. So I hope we can create moments like that for kids here in LA.

Yeah. I love that. It’s important to connect with them; they’re essentially creating the brand. If you don't have them, good luck.

I mean, yeah. Fuck, bro. It's cool that we've been around for this long. I mean, it got a little rocky there for a second I think, for all of us. So coming out of it, tomorrow is a celebration. And it’s like an odd day of the week. It's a Wednesday, super random. And now that we've set it up, the homies are all like, Yo, I'm coming. I'm coming. Let me jump on stage, let me do this, and that's really what it's always been about. It's not some other strategy to get likes on the internet.

That’s how the best things happen, you just couldn’t help yourself. It was intuitive.

Yeah, it all came together in a really nice way.

Would you say that’s how 424 started as well? I remember we met in like 2010 on Fairfax and I was visiting with Rasmus…

Oh bro, it’s probably the time when I started the branch… do you remember Cecilia from Black Dakini? She’s the one that introduced me to CIFF and honestly, I didn’t even care what she was doing, I was just like, I’m coming, I’ll go with you. She said she’d give me half of her booth and I said, Awesome count me in. At the time, I had just gotten my green card and I wasn't allowed to ever leave America, so Copenhagen was one of the first cities I went to when I could finally travel. I mean, you see what we did at CIFF bro? It became our fucking hub for half a decade.

That was a moment for sure.

I remember the first account I got was Antonioli, and he came super gangster, being like, You're going to sell me these clothes. And I was like, bro, I didn't come to sell clothes. I'm just kind of catching a vibe with my homie and I made these things. And he's like, No, you're going to sell it to me. And then I was like, Oh my god that’s Claudio Antonioli. So then I went home, I googled wholesale, and figured that shit out. [laughs]

[Laughs]

Like you said, I couldn't help myself, but I didn't just make t-shirts and hoodies either. I was really on my Rick wave, so I made my version of the Rick things. It was that meets like The Boondock Saints, because I'm still a little bit of a Cali bro, sort of rock kid, but not really. I like hip-hop, but I like the way the rock stars look. I like the contrast. I thought it was cool. After that, I just never stopped.

It was clear to me when I first met you that you were onto your own thing in LA. It made a lot of sense, and it was so cool. It was before 424 was its own brand; you just had the store and this really cool curation.

It was all my shit, bro. I was very, very invested in sharing all of these things that I was finding from all over the world, like Astrid Anderson. She was one of those designers at the time, so important to 424. The connection to Copenhagen specifically for me was huge. I had a big fan base there. It was incredible. And then here in LA, we were sharing the things that we were a part of and finding; it was still the early days of Fear of God, Rhude, Martine Rose. A lot of these brands, we were the first store to ever sell it — we were selling Hood By Air on the West Coast.

You had Rick as well, I remember.

Oh yeah. It took me a long time. But I got Rick, bro. By the time I had to close the store on Fairfax, I already had a Raf Simons account. I had reached my ultimate dream. It was really all the stuff I wanted to wear at the time. It was dope. The best of the best.

We had an office magazine newsstand in there as well.

Oh yeah, we did! I came to visit the one you had, and I was like, Yo, I got to bring this whole fucking thing over here. But yeah, in LA, after two days people forget you exist, but everyone’s been super supportive. We’re all 10 years older now. We've been around forever at this point.

It can be dangerous to take those breaks when you’re figuring shit out, but there’s something very genuine to this comeback you’re having.

Thank you, thank you. We’ve been in and out of those fucking showrooms in Paris for long enough. I've been in and out of these factories for the past 10 years of my life. We had to figure something out. And I think now really diving in, being in Italy full time and being there to develop these products over time, I think that the whole thing just really shows the suppliers respect you more. The people who are making your goods understand why you're making them. And I think now I finally got to the place where I'm not making Italian things, I’m making my clothes, I'm making Cali-centric shit, but with that European technicality and execution. With this Fall / Winter collection, it clicked.

So what’s the vision for the next year? What are you manifesting?

I'm just fucking relentless, bro. This is the way I want to live my life. Now that we are more aligned, more prepared, and have more experience, moving forward it is just more of becoming a fully functioning company that can provide and create opportunities for all of the people around me. We’ve been operating just on instinct for a long time.

Sustaining a business is scary, trust me I know.

Scary as fuck, dog. I just opened a store next to Bottega, bro, and it’s like what am I even doing? You have to just believe in the thing you're doing more than anybody else.

100%, and it seems like that’s what you’re doing.

And fashion’s kind of a competitive sport, as much as people don’t think it is. We can reach a certain level without losing ourselves. My biggest ambition at the moment is to create something that, when you leave one of our neighbors you come into our place you don’t feel that the level has been sacrificed at all. And it’s not easy.

Definitely. I wish I could be there tomorrow.

Thank you, bro. 10 years now. You’ve always shown me so much love. We have to do a booth or have the office part of the next 424 day. Shit let’s do a 424 day in New York.

That would be sick. Let's do it. I'm here. Let’s catch up soon.

Next season’s right around the corner so I’ll see you in Paris.

Yes, see you in Paris and Happy 424 day!

Fashion

Luis De Javier's Puta Takeover

April 25, 2024

Last night with Luis De Javier, guests were overheard confirming this generation's most vital conundrum: “If I’m cunt, I can still be pussy.” “And if you’re pussy, you can still be cunt.” This sentiment echoed throughout the night as we celebrated De Javier’s first-ever streetwear collection, "Puta". We spent seven hours at Ella Funt at a dinner turned party that only he could’ve thrown (co-hosted by emcee). It was too dark for even the most aspiring-to-look-mysterious of us to wear sunglasses inside. Under the semi-oppressive flash of party photographers, we danced as much as the space would allow, drank tequila out of teacups and kissed each other on the cheeks with a vaguely European intimacy. “I’m doing streetwear!” De Javier could be heard exclaiming — whether it be in disbelief or excitement, we couldn’t tell you.

Words and photos by Izzy Capulong

The Spanish-born London-based designer has been well-loved for his genderless tailoring, latex mastery, and overall message of empowerment. Dressing everyone from ravers to A-listers, De Javier’s latest drop pushes his design repertoire to a new level. “While designing for my celebrity clientele and showcasing my creations on the runway has always been my dream,” he notes, “It’s equally important to me that my brand resonates with a wider, more diverse audience.” While this collection’s medium has shifted from corsets to sweatshirts, the classic LDJ avant-garde sensibilities remain. Bikinis and booty shorts are shamelessly emblazoned with “PUTA,” blazers are constructed with ample shoulder padding, and I had my eye on the cheekily-named “Faguette Bag.”

The Puta collection will be available exclusively on emcee.

Fashion

Nadia Lee Cohen Celebrates Paris Texas Launch at the Chateau

To celebrate the launch, Cohen and founder and creative director of Paris Texas, Annamaria Brivio hosted an intimate dinner at the Chateau Marmont pictured below. Arman Naféei entertained guests throughout the evening with a special playlist he curated for the occasion.