We were lucky to catch up with Paz Sintes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Paz, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Being born in Barcelona and the youngest of five sisters, I started to draw fashion sketches at the age of 8, styling my sisters, collecting fashion magazines and recycling and customizing my mother’s clothes. Cinema, especially old glamorous Hollywood movies and musical movies, with its music, dancing, and    especially its luxurious clothing, inspired me since I was very little. Good classical music was always present at home too. My mother played Spanish guitar and drew landscapes in charcoal as a hobby. My father loved classical American Jazz music. My sisters loved dancing more than anything. Nobody pursued an artistic career in my family, just me. I fortunately understood this at a very early age. Somehow I knew that I wanted to be a Fashion designer and nothing else. This created a little concern among my family and teachers because I was an outstanding academic student. I guess my story is what is called a vocation. At the age of 17, I got more into jazz music and I had a revelation. I knew all of a sudden that all those things: fashion and textiles (as a career), jazz, cinema and dance would accompany me forever.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As explained before, I had already planned on becoming a fashion designer for years and, when I was 17, I started my Fashion studies at the Winchester School of Art (Winchester, England) and the Escuela de Artes y Tecnicas de la Moda (Barcelona, Spain) to get my BA Honors in Fashion and Woven Textiles.

My very first job in fashion was for a work uniforms company. Then I was hired by a young girl’s fashion clothing company and job after job I became one of the three Senior Designers in woven textiles at the big Spanish MANGO Corporation. My work there was very intense: clothes design, trends research, sourcing, prototypes, supervision and fittings with patternmakers and seamstresses. Another important part of my job was to travel for shopping samples to big capitals like Tokyo, Milano, Paris, London or New York, plus trips to Hong Kong or Istanbul for supplier meetings. Who was going to say then, when I was in New York City for the very first time in 2001, that I would be end up living in New York? Life is a mystery! Hahaha! After all this traveling I guess I became curious about working abroad and I worked as a fashion consultant and trends researcher in Saint Petersburg and Paris cities.

I’ve been always a pretty restless person, so while I was working as a fashion designer, I was making clothes here and there for friends, special orders, or for me. I also worked as a personal shopper for some government clients and I’ve a been fashion stylist for the Catalonian Television as a freelancer. I also took classes in shoemaking, handbags, furniture restoration, print design, nude drawing, watercolor painting, forging and windows display.

…But, ironically, I was NEVER interested in jewelry. I had never worn any piece of jewelry before creating my line. The traditional concept of jewelry as an ornament based on the weight of the piece, never appealed to me so to be honest my “PAZ SINTES- Textile Jewelry” brand started by pure coincidence at the very end of 2005. While I was working, I suddenly had  the idea of making chokers out of “Valencienne” vintage laces for my friends as a Holiday gift. I thought that they looked elegant, light and soft and that they had an important historical component too. While I was in Madrid for a weekend on a pleasure trip, I had this idea of visiting one of the top high-end boutiques in this capital, just for the challenge. I made a great presentation but I promise I just did it to have an external professional opinion. Suddenly I heard this voice telling me: “2 of this one, 3 of this one, 2 of this one…” I was taking notes, and then, THE question: “What is the name of your business?”…I was speechless, I was not even looking for work…and suddenly I heard my voice saying “PAZ SINTES”. What else you can say in that situation? Hahaha!

I’m now in my 18 years in business. I started in Barcelona where I’m from, but I moved to New York, at the end of 2006. I work in my Brooklyn studio with high-fashion European materials and vintage laces that are hand–stitched and dyed, stiffened and coated, or sometimes cut by laser.

My work is a crossing between clothing and jewelry. My handmade textile jewelry collection is unusual and light as a feather. You don’t feel the pieces on when you wear them but they have a true metallic look. People stop you in the street because your necklace is moving when you walk. It creates surprising and fun interactions. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if they are part of your outfit or not. I like to think that they are permanently dancing with you! The lightness and the movement of my textile pieces create an intimate connection with human fragility and the passing of time. Ironically, it results in a strong, substantial, fun, unique, and ultra-feminine look that organically blends with your outfit, complexion, and personality.

Technically my work has been a challenge and still is every day: making very strong fiber pieces for everyday use that still look ethereal.

Business-related, I’m proud that my fiber jewelry has been sold at some of the most prestigious Museum stores and boutiques in the US and overseas. I’ve been also participating in the main Fine Arts and Crafts shows in the country since 2009.

On April 22nd, 2015, Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain wore my Organic Leaves bracelet style and its matching earrings at the SM Literature Awards in Madrid.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are two main rewards for me in my journey as an artist:

First, I love it when I, suddenly and clearly, have a vision of what I want. It can happen at any time. It just comes to you and it’s clear and luminous. Then, if you are lucky enough, there is that spectacular moment when you see clearly how to do it. And then, what we could call step 3 in the creationprocess, there is a particularly joyful moment that is when you know that the piece is finished and that’s what you were looking for in your head. Then of course your exigency for perfectionism and insecurity shows up and confuses you, hahaha! But for a second you feel relieved, wise and fresh like a kid. I’m not a mother but to me, it represents the closer to giving birth.

Second, selling  in Arts and Crafts shows in the US allowed me to interact directly with my customers. The comments, the smiles, sometimes those comments are so important that remind you who you are and why you are doing what you do. Some of the best comments I ever received that had an important impact on my career as a fiber jeweler and therefore working in an unusual jewelry medium, were:

– “When I’m wearing other jewelry it’s about the object. When I’m wearing yours it’s about me.”
– “My diamonds don’t get attention anymore. I’m planning to collect yours only from now on.”
– “Your jewelry gets more compliments than any other that I own and I’m a collector.”

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Over the years I’ve learned to just listen to 50% of what people tell you. If I were taking seriously all the comments that I’ve received from family, friends, and even some professionals in fashion positions, I would never be where I’m today. I’m a textile jeweler, therefore I compete with nothing less than historical metal, beads, and stone-based jewelry. I had many people in my life who tried to discourage me, sometimes with the best of intentions. I’ve listened to them but not too much, otherwise I would not be here today. The secret of my successful small business is always been trusting my own intuition.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pazsintes.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pazsintestextilejewelry/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PazSintesTextileJewelry/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paz-sintes-6a0727a/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7yL0dQ25ha7QyKLOOM27qQ

Image Credits
Model picture: Della Bass photography. Model: Sam Rest of the pictures: Dana Meilijson, Eduardo Palacios, Paz Sintes