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...

Arts + Culture

Billboard Couture

ArtPop's Sixth Annual Fashion Show Proves a Billboard's Second Life Can Be Its Best One Article by Elliott Harrell | Photography by Courtesy of ArtPop Charlotte’s most unique fashion show and fundraiser is back September 12 at Blume Studios, where the couture sashaying down the runway is made exclusively of recycled vinyl billboards. This is the sixth year ArtPop’s Upcycled Fashion Show will surprise and delight attendees by transforming these billboards into wearable masterpieces. “It's art...

Style + Beauty

The English Edit

Stylist Kristin Heinrich Packs for London and the Countryside Article by Liz Brown KRISTIN HEINRICH  Kristin Heinrich styles a bi-coastal clientele—Forbes Top 50 athletes, hedge funders, Fortune 1000 executives—for the VMAs, the Today Show, and Capitol Hill, with work featured in Sports Illustrated and USA Today. But London is where her eye gets sharpest: from Liberty's well-worn aisles to Marylebone boutiques, Notting Hill vintage finds to a Shoreditch rack nobody back home has discovered...

Home + Design

The Jewel Box

Designer Karsen Hood Transforms a Forgettable Office Into a Boutique-Worthy Dressing Room Article by Taylor Bowler | Photography by Michael Blevins The first time designer Karsen Hood met this homeowner from Lake Wylie, she was taken with her patterned Gucci slides. “I like to look at what the client is wearing,” says Hood, principal designer of Mannings Design. “She’s maximalist, and everything around her is gorgeous.” When the homeowner asked her to transform her husband’s office into a...

Home + Design

The House Next Door

Sarah Andrews Brings Fresh Energy to a Century-Old Myers Park Home Article by Taylor Bowler | Photography by Heather Ison For years, a Myers Park homeowner admired the 1925 brick Colonial just beyond her backyard. The properties sat catty-corner to each other, giving her a front-row view of its timeless architecture and unmistakable charm. So when the 5,100-square-foot home came on the market in 2024, she didn’t hesitate. The purchase made her just the fourth owner in the home's 100-year...

Life + Culture

WE See You

Why One Mother Started Nonprofit Generation WE to Help Thousands of Children See Beyond Their Differences Article by Krisha Chachra | Photography by Carissa Rogers Annie Totten remembers how people used to look at her son Jack, now 17, as he grew up with cerebral palsy. She remembers the pride she felt when he decided to say something about it.  “I have a boo-boo on my brain,” he told his classmates. “It affects the way I walk.” His words had power.  “The kids moved on once he explained it...

Education

Educating for Purpose

New Country Day Head of School Dr. Tara Christie Kinsey Advocates for Academic Excellence Built on Service and Character Article by Carroll Walton | Photography by Courtesy of Charlotte Country Day School Dr. Tara Christie Kinsey became Head of School at Charlotte Country Day School in 2025 after serving as Head of The Hewitt School in New York City and as an associate dean at her alma mater, Princeton University. She earned her Ph.D. in English from Emory University and met her husband, Matt...