THE ART OF THE PANT:

Getting Personal with Artist Juliet Johnstone

By: Team FP
Published On: 5/15/26

At FP, we always embrace the unique. Juliet Johnstone takes her apparel one step further.

There are two things I notice when first visiting LA artist Juliet Johnstone’s site–the JJ-tagged yellow heart, and the public mood board on her digital sketchbook. (How can you NOT notice?) And both make me smile.

Juliet partnered with us to adorn a capsule of hand-painted jeans and a duster, as well as a printed hoodie and tank. Much like the artist herself, these items reflect a love of unbridled creativity and appreciation for the beauty of life itself. Get to know Juliet below:

OUR INTERVIEW WITH JULIET JOHNSTONE

FREE PEOPLE: THE FIRST THING I WANT TO KNOW IS... D’ANGELO IS IN YOUR ONLINE SKETCHBOOK? WHAT DOES HiS PRESENCE SIGNIFY?

JULIET JOHNSTONE: The sketchbook tab on my website is something I added to show people overall brand inspiration. It’s full of references, mood board images, BTS, and drawings. Knowledge is power and I believe references should be shared. I included images of artists who inspire me, with D’Angelo being one of them. The specific portrait of D’Angelo on Sketchbook was in my reference folder for photo shoot lighting styles. Besides that, he is one of my favorite artists.

FP X Juliet Johnstone Hoodie

FP: OK...TO CLOTHES NOW. WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALIZE THAT YOU WANTED TO PRACTICE ART?

JJ: There was never a single moment–this has just always been who I am! I come from a creative family, and I have been making art since the day I could walk. I’m lucky that it never had to be a decision–it’s just who I am.

FP: POST-SCHOOL, IT DOESN’T SEEM THAT YOU WERE AFFORDED EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAD HOPED, RE: CAREER. WHAT PROVED TO BE THE TURNING POINT... WHEN YOU STARTED TO USE CLOTHES AS YOUR CANVAS?

JJ: Any creative job doesn’t have a concrete roadmap. After graduating, I worked as a studio assistant for three or so years for multiple artists at a time. I took any assisting job I could find–both paid and unpaid. I learned so much during that time–mainly the fact that every artist’s day-to-day looks completely different. Within my own artistic practice, I was feeling stumped on how to take the post-art school pressure off myself and just create. Painting on my own painters pants took the pressure off of my art and allowed me to focus on painting and creating something that I wanted to look at–flowers. From there, a new way of working was unlocked for me and allowed me to create freely.

“I learned that sometimes changing the canvas it all it takes.”

FP: FROM WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE MOST INSPIRATION?

JJ: The world around me–Nature, Los Angeles, and my friends. I clearly am inspired by nature and the colors found in nature. When I drive around Los Angeles, I see the most amazing typography on signs which serves as major inspiration for my text work. My iPhone camera roll is filled with random signs, sides of trucks, etc. that I always look back at when painting. I have the most inspiring and creative friend group and I am consistently inspired by them. Everyone is living their dream and creating incredible work and it pushes me to keep at it.

FP: WHAT ICON/GRAPHIC DO YOU BEST LIKE TO PAINT?

JJ: Flowers. If you know anything about my brand, you know about my obsession with florals of all types. Flowers feel like one of the closest things we have to aliens. Hundreds of thousands of flower exists which means inspiration is close to endless <3

FP: 5 THINGS YOU MUST HAVE IN YOUR STUDIO AT ALL TIMES:

JJ: Matcha. A speaker to blast music. Good paint brushes and paint pens. Natural light. Good vibes.

FP: WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES, IF ANY, BETWEEN YOUR AND FREE PEOPLE’S ETHOS?

JJ: We both value creativity and creating personal style. We both have both masculine and feminine silhouettes that can be paired together. I think the JJ girl is also a FP girl!

FP: WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS COLLAB?

JJ: The piece I am most excited to wear would have to be the hoodie! It is the perfect relaxed fit and the old English “Love” on the hood is the cherry on top. When I was in high school, I was truly obsessed with Free People and wanted to live inside of the catalogs. I would stay up late trying to replicate that outfits I saw in the catalogs to wear to school the following day. I love that we are taking those nostalgic things we all know and love about Free People, and putting a little JJ spin on them.

FP X Juliet Johnstone Shoreside Tank

FP: FAVE PIECE OF VINTAGE CLOTHING YOU OWN:

JJ: I have a pretty extensive sunglasses collection. Sunglasses are the only thing I buy because I can wear them every day with any outfit–they never have to be saved for an occasion! My most prized pair is probably my Jean Paul Gaultier 56-5001 Goggles. They are so intricate with hardware, engravings, metal pieces–I could just stare at them forever.

FP: IF YOU COULD LIVE IN ANY DECADE, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?

JJ: The 1970’s for the music and the clothes.