We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Minh Le. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Minh below.

Alright, Minh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

The day of one’s birth … creation day … new life! My passion is fashion design, my love is a mother’s love for her children. So when my clothing business was born, I decided its name would express both.

831 Minhle is not just my fashion label – the numbers 831 are a combination of love and passion worn by women all over, is actually expressing the creative force with 8-letters, 3 words, 1-meaning: I LOVE YOU

Minh, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Originally from Vietnam, Minh Le is the creative force driving the custom curated fashion designs of “831minhle”
Her designs are available in 2 locations of FlyingSolo in Manhattan, and her private studio in Lexington, SC.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When you search the internet for “831MinhLe” from recent years you will see the creations of this rising star of fashion design featured in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Elle, InStyle and Nylon. But go beyond what’s recent, say to the childhood of this designer, and you’ll find anything but glamour.

Dreams are what were rooted in the love of her grandmother and their joint struggles for survival in the aftermath of the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war. Abandoned by her mother at the age of 4, her father sentenced by the Viet Cong to “re-education camp” for having helped the Americans, she and her sister could easily have been sold into domestic slavery.

In those days, everything was about basic survival. She began working with her grandmother in childhood as a seamstress; the work was hard, but the love she and her grandmother forged in the face of such adversity, and the determination to sustain, to endure, to create beauty and joy in spite of the harshness of the world, is the fire driving everything she has done since.

When the chance came in 1994 she immigrated with her father to the USA. She became a successful serial entrepreneur in the nail salon industry first in Boston. Not accustomed to New England winters, her family then moved to Lexington SC where she raised a family and continued to run a nail salon, as she began doing custom design work for a steadily growing clientele. In 2018, she closed her nail salons and launched the “831minhle” fashion brand.

A driven perfectionist, she delights in creating fashions to liberate & celebrate each unique personality, each unique body. Her original design concepts, blended with vision for unique fabrics, are created with focus for every body type and skin color.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Building relationships with each client, listening to their wants and needs, and helping them express themselves with confidence by creating custom design pieces around each unique character.

Contact Info:

• Website: 831minhle.com
• Instagram: @831minhle
• Facebook: 831 MINHLE
• Linkedin: 831minhle
• Twitter: 831minhle