Jewelry pop-up shop features local designer with global perspective

Joshua Miklos, Contributing Writer

With roots in Richmond and a global perspective, Ashley White, founder of jewelry and home accessories brand Styledentity, creates jewelry and accessories inspiring confidence and individuality, according to the VMFA Shop website. 

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts hosted a pop-up shop for Styledentity, whose motto is “Style is the armor in the battle for identity,” from Friday, Feb. 23 through Sunday, Feb. 25. Attendees could meet White and purchase her handmade jewelry.

As well as being a craftswoman, small business owner and seasoned traveler, White is a Richmond local and VCU alumnus who graduated in 2007 from the fashion design and merchandising program, according to White.

The collection she presented for the pop-up included white bone beads and sea glass beads from Ghana and Tibetan coral and turquoise mixed together, according to White.

Inspired and partially taught by her mother who created her own art, White began making things at an early age, she said.

“I just love to make things,” White said. “I was always interested in art and I started getting more formal training by going to the Visual Arts Center — back then it was called the Hand Workshop — ever since then, I just kind of got into jewelry making and just kind of making home goods.” 

White’s business came to be almost by accident, she said. Needing a pair of earrings to go with an outfit for an event in 2010, she decided to make her own. While at the event, White was encouraged by admirers of the handmade pieces to make and sell her designs.

White made an Etsy shop the very next day, not expecting her brand to become what it is today, she said.

It can take her anywhere from 30 minutes to several days to create a piece, White said. 

“I hoard things like beads and wires, strings and ropes, all sorts of things,” White said. “I like to mix mediums together — kind of things that you wouldn’t expect to go together or things from cultures that aren’t the same. That’s kind of a big thing for me because I like to travel; I like to experience different cultures.” 

White emphasized the importance of experiencing and learning about other cultures, especially in the United States where the population is made up of many diverse cultures that influence fashion and style, she said.

The emphasis on creating jewelry that incorporates diverse cultural mediums and surprising motifs stems from her goal to create unique pieces that can reflect and express personal identity, White said.

“I do like to create a lot of one-of-one pieces or just a limited number of pieces — I think that we live in a world where everybody copies everybody, so I kind of like to make it harder for everybody to look the same,” White said.

Style should be a reflection of oneself and not of others, White said.

“I’m an advocate for personal style,” White said. “I think people should spend more time tapping into what makes them feel good instead of what looks good on somebody else.” 

On top of style being a method of expressing personal identity, she also interprets her motto, “Style is the armor in the battle for identity,” to mean style as a defense mechanism in protecting personal identity, according to White. 

Style can be a way for introverts, like herself, to remain introverted while expressing themselves in bold ways, White said.

Maureen Wesley, a self-proclaimed museum shop lover visiting from Northern Virginia, picked up a couple of Styledentity pieces to purchase. Wesley said she likes that the VMFA Shop hosts frequent pop-up events. 

The style reminded Wesley of her trip to West Africa and similar styles she saw there, she said.

This is Styledentity’s second pop-up event with the VMFA Shop after it successfully carried her work in-store for almost two years, according to Katie Carr, the VMFA store manager.

“We were excited to try and get her in to do a pop-up event — her first one was probably spring of last year, and it was super successful, and both her and I were eager to do it again,” Carr said.

The pop-up event program began in 2011, but after being derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, it began to pick back up this past year, according to Carr.

“Ashley’s work is so fun because truly anyone could walk in here and see a piece they love and take that home with them,” Carr said. “Her styles are fun, they’re lively, they’re colorful, so it truly is a great fit for the store and projecting the mission that we want.”

The VMFA Shop’s mission is to provide visitors with a continuation of their experience at the museum, according to Carr.

Styledentity accomplishes this goal by reflecting the art featured in the museum while also appealing to the VMFA’s wide range of visitors, from museum members to people from all over the world, Carr said. 

Carr feels White’s global outlook influences her to craft unique pieces out of materials that reflect many different cultures, she said.

“Allowing the artists to have a space and an opportunity where they can just truly come in and focus on telling their story like talking about their inspiration, showcasing their products — being able to just provide that platform to give that exposure to someone is just really fun and meaningful for us,” Carr said.