When Minh Nhut Le was a child living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam she often was tasked to help with minor sewing work on clothes brought home from her grandparents’ tailoring shop. Buttons needed to be put on. Rips needed to be repaired. Dresses needed hemming.
At age 7, Le learned to repair clothes and studied their construction, examining seams and imagining alterations. By the time she was 10, Le was making patterns and sewing clothes for her dolls with fabric brought home by her grandmother.
Now, the Lexington resident, 52, is a fashion designer, creating tailored blazers, palazzo pants, and dresses for women all over the country. Her clients include University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, and WNBA stars A’ja Wilson, and Kamilla Cardoso.
Her designs were noticed especially in February when singer Ledisi, wearing a white signature suit/dress combination, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
The owner of @831Minhle on Main Street in Lexington now has a national client base, dressing sports figures, business leaders, and others who know the power of a well-fitted outfit.
The spring 2025 collection was shown last fall at New York Fashion Week. Her fashions have been shown in Paris, and she aims to bring her style to Milan. Le’s spring collection includes blazers, palazzo pants, slip dresses, and long skirts in bright solid colors.
She plays with tweeds for tailored jackets and long, slim fit coats. You will often see a wild print on Le in her own creations.
Her recent runway appearances vastly differ from her early days assisting her grandparents in their shop as a teenager in Vietnam. By the time she was 20, she opened her tailoring shop, using fabric brought in by her customers to create dresses.
Le came to the United States in 1994, but instead of pursuing her dream of designing and creating fashions, Le began working in a nail salon, eventually owning salons in a career that lasted 20 years, settling in Lexington in 2008, marrying and raising two children.
It was while working with nail customers that she heard how frustrated they were about clothes that did not fit.
“They feel anxious and self-conscious about their body when they go shopping,” Le said. She began to pick up her sewing again, “just to relax,” making outfits for herself.
Nail customers admired Le’s clothes so much that they began to ask if she could make something for them. By 2017, she was showing her work at New York Fashion Week. She sold the nail salon a year later.
Le’s passion is the fit, something she learned early by dissecting those clothes brought home by her grandmother to fix. “My focus is on the real body,” she said.
It is not an easy process. Many times, she will take a piece back if she does not feel that the fit makes her client feel comfortable. “I cannot sell stuff if it doesn’t fit well.”
And that’s why Staley, Wilson, and Cardoso are especially keen to work with Le. She works with their height, body types, and styles to create fashions that they can easily move in. “For me, it’s about conversation, like teamwork.”
She studies their public movements, their social media, and what makes them happy. “I have an eye to see how to compliment the person,” she said.
Le has worked with Wilson, now with the Las Vegas Aces, for about four years, creating outfits for her fashionable walk-ins for WNBA games, which has become a de facto runway show for women and men professional athletes.
Staley’s look consists of jackets that give her style while being able to move around on the basketball sidelines. Le is working on a jacket that you might see in the NCAA tournament this spring.
Now Le has a staff who can travel to fashion week while she stays at home working on commissions. Her shop at 403 E. Main St., Suite C in Lexington is also a retail shop, with T-shirts for sale that say “Born 2b Real, not perfect.” 831Minhle stands for “8 letters, 3 words, one powerful meaning: “I love you.”
It continues to be a learning experience for Le, as she expands her business with staff and shows. “Every day, I am surrounded by people who inspire me to do better,” Le said.