Meet Prayy! | Prayy with two Y’s. Artist, Arts Advocate, and Owner of $trange $olstice.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Prayy! and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Prayy!, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Honestly, $trange $olstice has always existed. It just took a minute to make it official.

It really started taking shape when I was working at a resale store for four years during my time at Georgia State University. That’s where I started building my eye, collecting pieces, and understanding what it meant to see potential in something other people had already let go. By the time I formalized the business in 2021, the foundation had already been laid.

Fashion for me has always been about expression without apology. The alternative, the eclectic, the pieces that make you do a double take. $trange $olstice is a space for people who don’t shrink and don’t blend in.
And the sustainability piece is not a trend or a talking point for me, it is c e n t r a l. Fast fashion is doing r e a l damage and I take that seriously. Every piece I source, mend, and rehome is a small but intentional act against that cycle. Shopping consciously doesn’t have to mean boring. It can be magical, expressive, full of character and still be good for the planet.

That’s the whole vision. Always has been.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art lives at the intersection of a lot of worlds. Printmaking, fashion, music — creativity has always moved through me in multiple directions at once. $trange $olstice is where all of that converges. Every piece I find, restore, and release carries intention, a distinct point of view, and a whole lot of soul.

I have been building this eye since my days working at a resale store at Georgia State University, learning to see beauty and potential in what others discarded. In 2022 I graduated Magna Cum Laude, and by then $trange $olstice was already moving. What I am most proud of is not just the business though. It is the community. The people who found this space and felt s e e n in it. And the fact that I get to source across the country doing nonprofit work I love. Every state I land in adds something to this shop and to my story.

Has it been easy? No. I lost friendships and support along the way. When you start betting on yourself and moving with purpose, not everyone comes with you. But I learned to get comfortable in my own company and I learned that purpose will cost you something and that is okay. Stay true to yourself even when people leave. That lesson is in everything I do now.

What I want the world to know about $trange $olstice is simple. We are here to build community, shop intentionally, and look absolutely incredible doing it. This is a space for the expressive, the alternative, the ones who don’t shrink. And that includes e v e r y body. I am a proud person and body positivity is not a hashtag here, it is a core value. Fashion is for everyone and so is this shop.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If you are coming to visit me, understand that I live in East Cobb. It is lovely. It is quiet. It is also very, very white. I navigate it with grace and a good playlist.

We will eat well though. The Marietta Diner is a rite of passage. Mac’s Chophouse and The Local on the Square are worth dressing for. Good Kitchen when we are being responsible adults. Johnnie McCracken’s when we are not. Homegrown for breakfast because starting the day right is a personality trait. And at some point we are making the trip to The Earl in East Atlanta Village, because some things are non-negotiable.

Now. The real itinerary.

Oakland Cemetery for history and architecture. The Clark Atlanta University Art Museum and Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, the only museum in the world dedicated to art by and about women in the African Diaspora.

Hammonds House in West End. The only fine arts museum in Atlanta dedicated to artists of the African Diaspora. It is tucked into a Victorian home and it will stop you in your tracks if you let it.

The Chattahoochee Brick Company site. It is a former forced convict labor camp that primarily imprisoned Black men on dubious charges after the Civil War. The city is turning it into a memorial. You should know it exists. You should stand there.

That is my Atlanta. Take it or leave it.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, my parents. They never once made me feel like creativity was a risk. Every artistic path I wanted to explore, they made space for it. That kind of unwavering support is r a r e and I don’t take it lightly. My father was a quiet thinker, a superb chef, a gentle and chivalrous soul who took his time with everything he did. That stillness, that intentionality, lives in the way I approach my work.

And Dr. Mom deserves her own moment. She’s not just my mom — she’s an educator, a curator, a whole force within the HBCU community who has poured her knowledge, discipline, and love into t h o u s a n d s of students. Watching her dedicate herself to preserving culture and uplifting people with such intention… that lives in me. That’s in my art, my practice, everything. She taught me what it really means to lead with purpose.
I also have to shoutout Ms. Hanner, my 8th grade English teacher who somehow never stopped showing up. High school, college, and hopefully law school soon… she has been a constant, colorful presence through every single chapter. That kind of consistency from a teacher is a g i f t. She saw something in me worth following and she followed it. I carry that.

Every piece I source, every stitch I mend, every place I land while doing this work in the world — it all carries the fingerprints of the people who believed in me before I had the words to believe in myself.

Instagram: strangesolstice | cosmicbratwurst

Other: https://depop.com/strangesolstice

Image Credits
Sol (image with hat) | Prayy for the rest