We talk with the Hold On owner, Penelope Strintz. The illustrator and handpainted fashion tells us about her passion for art and her love of self expression. Penelope explains how her brand uses vintage clothes that are customized and give a second funner life to it.
TEAM PARIS SOCIAL DIARY: The first question I would like to ask you is: Are you a romantic? A lover ?
PENELOPE STRINTZ: My illustration is a kind of ideal sometimes a fantasy, they do not necessarily resemble what I am but rather what I would like to be or have. I do not really like to answer this first question … This will leave a share of mystery to our friends readers.
PSD: Women’s designs in a swimsuit, and even your models are assertive and feminine, you feel like you want to send a picture of the woman who loves her woman’s body and who loves her life as a woman, is Is this how you define yourself?
PENELOPE: The woman I draw assumes, she is free, domineering and often provocative, she loves her body. I do not necessarily define myself as the woman I draw in everyday life but I am for a total emancipation of the feminine condition, freedom and total possession of her body.
PSD: You redraw the garment, you color the world of the woman with Hearts, Rainbows, red yellow, clouds, is what you create the garment that does good? Who can escape?
PENELOPE: There is indeed a kind of lightness and naiveté in my work, the color is very important and the message is definitely positive.
PSD: Besides, you collaborated with artists such as miley Cyrus or Madonna by creating unique pieces hand-painted on vintage clothes, Miley Cyrus and Madonna are women who assert themselves, are women released, finally it is Quite naturally that you have been led to work with them, you evolve in the same field in some sorts? Do you return the same image?
PENELOPE: They are women who dare and are not necessarily afraid of what they say, defend their ideals and often for noble causes such as homosexual rights, animal rights or the environment, Has their notoriety they touch and influence millions of people to deliver a positive message. I would like to refer the same image through my drawings, what is on is that they are all pacifist in character. Despite the evolution of human rights over the years and the fact that we are in the 21st century there are unfortunately still far too many horrors happening today, I think it is important to ability to communicate the top through the arts.
PSD: Are you a feminist?
PENELOPE: A 120,000% Why does this word still exist? Do we often hear about a mascunilist? Not really … I am still totally shocked by the present condition of women and even in our country, so if I can fight even a little through my drawings for this, I do it and will do it without hesitation.
PSD: Where does this desire to bring to the woman this desire to flourish? Is it because you think that the woman does not really flourish or rather because you want to bring what you are yourself?
PENELOPE: A bit of both 🙂
PSD: What are your daily inspirations?
PENELOPE: I am very inspired by the Japanese culture, the colors of Studio Ghibli and the Shibari of Araki. The sulphurous drawings of Milo Manara. The erotic novels of Guillaume Apollinaire and Sade. The films of Alejandro Jodorowski in particular “The Holy Mountain”. The Aesthetics of Pier Paolo Pasolini and David Lynch, the kitsch of the 80s and 90s. The movement of the Memphis Milano. Astrological and mythological characters.
PSD: You love New York but Paris is your city, Which of the two inspires you the most, and why?
PENELOPE: I love my life in Paris, stroll through the streets, drink rosé on the terrace, cross the city in a few hours. New York inspires me more, for its eclecticism, plurality and diversity, I love Brooklyn, the Bedstuy district where I saw the most beautiful prints of my life on the passers-by of the neighborhood. The vintage neons of the liquors and tattoo shop, Coney Island for the colors and illustrations of its rides. I also find many treasures in the books shop of the lower east side to draw my inspiration.
PSD: The advice you would give to a young artist who would like to let you express his imagination and his universe?
PENELOPE: My ultimate advice: Humility
PSD: Your favorite proverb?
PENELOPE: Every day of drunkenness their next day.
PSD: Do you even create the garment or you buy clothes that reshape your sauce?
PENELOPE: I do not create any clothes, the planet is already too full. My concept is based on vintage, a garment bought at auction or second hand that you will not find in the large distribution, I then illustrate using the forms of this one which makes it a unique hand-painted piece That you will not see on your neighbor. My favorite pieces are in denim.
PSD: What method do you use to draw on the garment?
PENELOPE: I make specific mixes with several mediums to obtain a paint that does not leave for washing, I then heat the garment at high temperature in order to fix the pigments.
PSD: You worked alongside Jean Charles de Castelbajac, a multidisciplinary creator, what were the highlights of this apprenticeship?
PENELOPE: I do not have a moment in particular, I think the most rewarding were the trips I could make with him, especially in Seoul. He works on many mediums which taught me to adapt and to face different situations. Being somehow a chameleon multi task. I learned a lot by working with him.
PSD: Your work at his side has allowed you to create your own universe or is that what you already had an idea of what you wanted to do?
PENELOPE: Our work is very different but of course I was influenced by these years by his side, it allowed me to acquire a vision and an artistic knowledge that I did not necessarily before working with him.
