Mindset of abundance, kindness, tension creator, style, magic maker and love… these are a few descriptive words my talented friend, Michel Van Devender, along with patches and paint, used to create my very own pair of the coolest denim I ever did know!
Perhaps you recall Michel Van Devender, a Charlotte artist and designer, from a previous @southparkmagazine Closet Crush feature. Michel did not set out to paint jeans. Although Michel’s creative path has always been more organic and non-linear, she has always had an interest in fashion, seeing it as another form of artistic expression. Over a year ago, Michel discovered an intersection between her art and fashion. While painting an abstract on canvas, on a whim thinking it would be fun (and it was!), she added in a pair of her old jeans. Everyone started asking, “Where did you get those jeans?” A friend who loved the jeans and owned a retail store at the time said, “if you paint some jeans and bring them to the shop, I can sell them. So, she did, along with Michel’s custom notecards.