Life + Culture

Clutch Brilliance

A New Mint Museum Exhibition Celebrates the Whimsical Handbags and Remarkable Life of Designer Judith Leiber Article by Taylor Bowler | Photography by Courtesy of The Mint Museum At first glance, the works in Brilliant by Design: The Handbags of Judith Leiber look playful. A dolphin covered in Swarovski crystals. Frogs with bejeweled crowns. A crystal-encrusted watermelon slice. But upon closer observation, something else emerges: exquisite craftsmanship, relentless innovation, and the...

Style + Beauty

Swing Style

From Capitol's Buying Floor to the First Tee, Rachelle Wates Is Redefining What Women Wear to Play and Everywhere After Article by Carroll Walton | Photography by Christina Hussey Charlotte’s Rachelle Wates brings high fashion and her own sense of style to women’s golf attire, as well as what to wear when the round ends. Women no longer have to settle for afterthoughts in the corner of a men’s golf shop, and Byrdie Golf Social Wear is a big reason why.  After launching Byrdie as a golfwear...

Arts + Culture

Silk Serendipity

Fashion Designer Turned Fine Artist Kenny Nguyen Weaves Silk, Paint and a Lucky Mistake Into Works Coveted From Charlotte to Paris Article by Elliott Harrell | Photography by Olly Yung Kenny Nguyen’s “deconstructed paintings” have been featured in galleries all over the world. But if it weren’t for a mistake early on in his career, he might not have become one of Charlotte’s top artists. Nguyen, who moved to the U.S. with his family from Vietnam in 2010, had recently graduated from UNC...

Style + Beauty

The Fashion Connector

From Classroom Critiques to Curated Fashion Events, Perrine DeShield-Jenkins Is Bridging Emerging Talent and Charlotte Style Article by Taylor Bowler By the time Mint to Be: The Feminine Body as Costume Art closed at Mint Museum Uptown in early June, it had already become one of Charlotte’s most talked-about style events of the year. The month-long exhibition, runway competition and fashion experience transformed the museum’s MINT5pace into an exploration of femininity, identity and...