Tracker Pixel for Entry

On her own time, in her own way

Culture | December 10th, 2015

Designer Cari Ann Golden’s brand expands into fashion

by Alicia Underlee Nelson

“I’ve always made stuff, “ said Cari Ann Golden. “I didn’t realize until about three years ago that people would buy stuff.”

The Fargo jewelry designer and seamstress began selling striking, handmade jewelry under the Wuve label in 2012. And Golden has been expanding her line and growing her business ever since.

A native of Danvers, Minnesota, Golden has always been creative. A high-powered career in Internet business sales and marketing meant that making things started as just a hobby and then evolved into a side business.

Golden’s early success making and selling striking stud earrings, natural gemstones and wood jewelry – and the joy she found in doing it – made working for herself a very real and compelling option. But long hours in the office frequently put her creative work on the back burner. “I had to choose,” Golden remembered. “I ended up quitting my job instead.”

Golden set up a studio in the downtown home she shares with her husband, Jason Gully Renman, and continued to strategically expand Wuve with the same verve and tenacity that made her a successful salesperson. Only now, the business she’s building is her own. And she’s doing it on her own time, in her own way.

“My husband gets out and goes to work every day and I get out and sit down at my sewing machine,” she said. “Some days I don’t hardly work at all. Sometimes I get up at 6 o’clock in the morning and work until twelve o‘clock at night. And it doesn’t seem like work to me. It’s definitely what I want to do.”

Golden still sells her jewelry at craft shows throughout the Midwest, hitting the road every weekend since mid-October to show off her wares at gatherings as far away as Minneapolis and Detroit. But her recent expansion into men’s, women’s, plus size and custom clothing has really struck a chord with customers.

The clothing Golden creates is vividly colorful, featuring heady doses of cobalt and crimson, ochre and jade. Wuve dresses and aprons have a saucy retro silhouette while the men’s shirts are bright and playful. And both the men’s and women’s shirt designs borrow elements from western wear, with patterned yokes and shiny pearl buttons marching up the front and at the cuffs.

Recently in:

By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.com The business of Indian Hating is a lucrative one. It’s historically been designed to dehumanize Native people so that it’s easier to take their land. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man,”…

By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.comThere’s not really a word for reconciliation, it's said in our language. There’s a word for making it right. To talk about reconciliation in terms of the relationship between Indigenous…

Thursday, December 5, 7-11:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempsey’s, 226 Broadway N., FargoLegendary post hardcore band Quicksand plays Fargo, with fellow New Yorkers Pilot to Gunner and local heroes Baltic to Boardwalk and Hevvy…

By Jim Fugliejimfuglie920@gmail.com Okay, so last month I promised you a woman President of the United States. So much for my predictability quotient. Lesson 1: Never promise something you can’t control. And nobody, not even…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWith What is Happening in the World, Why not Artificial Intelligence? Since Lucy fell out of a tree and walked about four million years ago, she has been evolving to humans we call Homo sapiens. We…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Local band Zero Place has been making quite a name for itself locally and regionally in the last few years. Despite getting its start during a time it seemed the whole world was coming to…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Writer-director Nicole Riegel’s sophomore feature “Dandelion” is now playing in theaters following a world premiere at South by Southwest in March. The movie stars KiKi Layne as the…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comIn 1974, the Jamestown Arts Center started as a small space above a downtown drugstore. It has grown to host multiple classrooms, a gallery, performance studio, ceramic studio and outdoor art park.…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Josette Ciceronunapologeticallyanxiousme@gmail.com What does it mean to truly live in a community —or should I say, among community? It’s a question I have been wrestling with since I moved to Fargo-Moorhead in February 2022.…

Rynn WillgohsJanuary 25, 1972-October 8, 2024 Rynn Azerial Willgohs, age 52, of Vantaa, Finland, died by suicide on October 8, 2024. Rynn became her true-self March 31, 2020. She immediately became a vocal and involved activist…

By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com My name is Faye Seidler and I’m a suicide prevention advocate and a champion of hope. I think it is fair to say that we’ve been living through difficult times and it may be especially…