ARTIFACTUAL
When Ramón Gaulda started his business, Anticuario R. Gualda, in 1987, it was created from a pure passion for art and history. His time in Paris as a young boy instilled in him a deep love that carried him through his adulthood and allowed him to collect an expansive collection of artifacts and antiques. In 2010, his granddaughter Marta picked up the torch, and in 2019 she brought Anticuario R. Gaulda to Charlotte. Dedicated to maintaining the essence of the traditional, Marta filled the corners of her Myers Park shop with centuriesold stories and infused the open spaces with the kind of modernity that makes life interesting today. It’s the duality of her collection that makes it eclectic and fascinating, exciting and familiar, comfortable and new. “Being a collector doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re an expert in the piece you are buying at that very moment,” Marta explains. “At first it just speaks to you, reflects some part of you that you want to explore. As time goes by and you live next to it, you dive deeper into that abyss, and the details begin to reveal themselves in a way you never imagined. This is how the collector gains their expertise and curates their own collection. It’s this process that informs their taste and subsequent additions to their collection—after the purchase, after living with the piece.” martagaulda.com

LOVE THY RIVAL
Love Thy Rival is a perfect sentiment for the modern world and the namesake of the new Southern-inspired jewelry line created by friends Alex Holleman and Mary Margaret Beaver. Pieces inspired by treasured worldly possessions and lifetime milestones anchor the collection. “We draw inspiration from our very own vintage pieces and the designs that we ourselves want to wear,” Beaver says. “Jewelry has the remarkable power to signify so many things to a person. It is exciting to offer creations that will resonate with our clients—women who inspire and empower us. We also want our jewelry to be a reflection and expression of the wearer’s own individual style and unique personality.” In December 2019, the pair debuted their collection in Beaver’s home to various friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. “We wanted to introduce our own bespoke interpretation of timeless and momentous pieces to our friends and do it in a way that is playful and with beautiful handcrafted pieces that can easily be incorporated into their daily lives,” Holleman says. lovethyrival.com

FRESH FRESCOS
When Chapel Hill–based artist Liane Ricci went to Vittorio Veneto, Italy, in 2016 to study traditional fresco painting, she came back with a renewed sense of purpose. Previously experienced in commissioned paintings, original designs for rugs and fabrics, and custom finishes and gold leafing for high-end furnishing companies, she opened Ricci Studio and shifted her gaze to hand-painted wallcoverings. “My experience in Italy inspired me to translate my paintings into wallcoverings,” she explains. “In our digital age, I believe the synthetic can become overwhelming, and I’m attracted to designs that harken back to the touch of the human hand.” The collections from Ricci Studio are bold and expressive, with rich, soothing colors and oversized repeats. “I want to provide options that are art-driven and have the integrity of true craftsmanship. It’s imperative to me that my materials and processes meet high standards of environmental responsibility.” lianericci.com


MY GIFT IS MY SONG Charlotte-based artist Stephen Wilson is going back to his roots with his newest collection, The Albums. As a member of a New Jersey–based rock band in the ’80s, Wilson is seeing his passions collide and come full circle with each piece he’s created. Wilson’s use of textiles and embroidery is brought to nostalgic life in a series of handmade album covers that grab the heart of every music lover. “Art, fashion, and music, the three main sources of everything I’ve done so far—it’s taken me the longest to even start this new category because there are so many ideas and techniques to put forward with very specific references to each album.” stephenwilsonstudio.com 


EASTERN ACCENTS Roxy Te grew up amidst her family’s furniture factories in North Carolina, learning the business from soup to nuts and spending her falls and springs at High Point Market. Nearly forty years after growing up in those furniture factories, she is proud to continue that family tradition with her own next-level flair. In 2011, Te founded her own online marketplace, Society Social, selling a line of customized furniture. She led the charge for revitalizing the bamboo furniture trend, and today Society Social is one of the most recognized brands in the furniture industry. The new flagship store is now open in Atherton Mill in South End. It’s full of color, patterns, and design—her brand “on steroids,” as Te puts it—and a perfect place to shop, sit, and pull up a chair at their pagoda bar. The design plan of her flagship store was catalyzed by New York–based interior designer Sasha Bikoff, who is regaled for her use of color and an uncommon combination of styles. “Sasha was able to take the brand DNA and bring it to life,” Te says. “She’s overthe-top, and we knew she wouldn’t hold back. We already had a very strong sense of what the design should look like, so we were able to quickly work with Sasha in dreaming up colorful renderings. Our team took it from fabrics and paint selections to vetting and coordinating all our local and wonderful tradesmen and artisans to the final install.” shopsocietysocial.com