Before there was a boutique, before there was a red carpet, before Detroit knew the name De'Twah…two women were having the same dream.
Candice was recovering from COVID when the vision struck: an upscale eyewear boutique. “I literally woke up in the middle of the night, scribbled down ‘De'Twah, and then I just filed the paperwork, like in the middle of the night,” Candice remembers. “And didn’t tell anybody.”
She set about making her dream a reality.
“I was working three jobs, my grandmother had cancer, and I was meeting with investors to get my own boutique off the ground,” Candice remembers.
At the same time, her longtime manager Rachel Irimescu had a vision of her own: an upscale eyewear boutique. Rachel quietly reached out to Candice, asking if she’d come help launch a new venture…and Candice laughed. “Funny you should say that,” she replied. “I have a business plan in my car.”
That mutual spark—equal parts timing and divine alignment—turned into De'Twah Luxury Eyewear, a boutique where eyewear becomes art.
What sets De'Twah apart isn’t just their authorized Cartier status (they’re the first non-doctor black-and-white female team to earn it), or their custom work (real diamond insets, hand-faceted bevels, color-shifting tints). It’s that Rachel and Candice style every frame like a piece of art.
“You don't just walk in here and pick up a frame. You sit with us, and we decide together who you are,” Candice says. “We read your face, your lifestyle, your vibe. And we create something that makes you feel like you.”
She calls it “jewelry for your face.” And the moment you walk into the Oak Park boutique—all velvet drapes and red carpet glamour—you believe her.
They tried Royal Oak for three years. “But everyone just kept going back to Oak Park,” Rachel says. “Greenfield Plaza is where the culture lives. It’s where we belong.”
They’ve styled celebrities like singer/songwriter Trey Songz (who said “De'Twah, baby!” on video while wearing their custom lenses) and rapper Big Sean. But it’s the clients who thought they'd never wear luxury glasses who matter just as much.
“I had a woman with a -10 prescription who cried when she picked up her Cartier rims,” Candice says. “She'd been told her whole life she couldn’t have beautiful eyewear. But we made it happen.”
“I’ve had clients cry—not just because of how they look, but how they feel when they’re finally seen,” Rachel adds.
In between fittings and fashion shows, Rachel and Candice are building a mentorship program for Detroit girls. Two preteens spend Fridays learning everything from how to answer the phone to how to polish lenses. “Before high school,” Candice says, “you have to start shaping how they see themselves.”
Ask either woman what makes the business work, and they'll point to each other. Candice has the vision and the flair. Rachel has the precision and the calm. Together, they pray over every big decision.
“We’re not just in business. We’re in prayer,” Candice says. “Everything we do starts with that.”
“People think we came out of nowhere,” Rachel says. “But we put in the time. We've worked decades in this field. We earned this.”
Candice puts it another way: “I call Rachel the Quiet Storm. You don't see her coming, but she gets everything done.”
And through all the sparkle, both women say the real gift is watching clients transform.
“When someone puts on the right pair of glasses and suddenly sees themselves differently,” Candice says, “that’s what we’re here for. That’s the real luxury.”
Or as she sums it up: “Luxury is when your glasses feel like part of your soul.”
Rachel smiles and adds, “People assume I’m the assistant. That Candice owns the place. And that’s fine with me—I like to be behind the scenes.”
In the end, De'Twah isn’t just the result of one woman’s dream. It’s what happens when two people see the same future, and walk into it—side by side.
To experience De'Twah for yourself, visit detwahluxuryeyewear.com or stop by their Oak Park boutique inside Greenfield Plaza
“We read your face, your lifestyle, your vibe. And we create something that makes you feel like you.”