A Symbol of Style and Advocacy

BYCHARI'S VOTE Necklace

How Chari Cuthbert's Iconic Necklace Became a Cultural Phenomenon

Since 2012, Chari Cuthbert, BYCHARI founder, has crafted timeless, luxurious jewelry meant to spark conversations. But Chari could have never anticipated one of her pieces becoming the topic of conversation. In a defining moment during the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama donned a simple BYCHARI necklace with a strong message: VOTE.

Once those four 14K-gold letters appeared onscreen, Chari was catapulted into the global spotlight. The jewelry line topped online searches, and BYCHARI would sell 4,000 pieces in two days — 20 times the orders her seven-woman team would typically receive.

The piece of jewelry made such a statement, it has secured a place in style and political history. It's so synonymous with Michelle Obama, that her wax figure at Madame Tussauds in New York wears it.

Chari has told parts of the VOTE necklace story, especially in the flurry of press in the wake of Obama's appearance. Still, she hasn't shared her experience in its entirety, the glowy, scary and crazy — until now.

Q: What was the inception of the VOTE necklace?

The women in my life have been very influential in how I design. The style and spacing of what would become the VOTE necklace were inspired by a girlfriend of mine, Rocky Barnes. I made my Original Spaced Letter Necklace for her as a birthday gift — I always call her my muse.

A few years later, the first in a series of Women's March took place, putting conversations about women's rights and advocacy to the forefront in a very visceral way. I made the first VOTE necklace in response to this momentous event, as a way to say that we as women must make our voices heard.  

Q: How did the necklace end up as the iconic part of Michelle Obama's ensemble during the DNC?

Meredith Koop, Michelle Obama's longtime stylist, had come across the necklace and bookmarked it as a possible fashion statement. In the summer of 2020, deep into the pandemic and just head of the DNC, Meredith reached out to purchase two VOTE necklaces: one in 14K yellow gold, and another in 14K white gold.

At first, I was like, "Is this for real?" My next thought was, "How fast can we get this done?" Luckily, we had a fully operational team; we got the necklaces designed and shipped the same day. It was a thrill to make something even being considered for Michelle Obama, but honestly, I thought that would be the end of it.

Q: What was it like to see Michelle Obama wearing your necklace on this highly publicized platform?

The morning of Aug. 17, 2020, I got these strange screenshots from my mom (as moms do) of Michelle Obama wearing my necklace on CNN's promos of the DNC. 

I can't explain it — this unforgettable, crowning moment when you feel so proud of how hard you've worked and all you've done.

When her speech came on, I was in the office by myself trying to take a pause and take it all in. I just sat there and cried — it was overwhelming in the best possible way.

Q: How did your business take off immediately after Michelle Obama's speech?

The phone calls and texts started rolling in from people I knew. A friend told me to check the website — so I did, and there was an increase in sales. I thought, "That's random. How would anyone know I designed it?" Then things started to take off very quickly. Twitter was on fire with everybody wanting to know who made it.

Q: What happened when the necklace truly started to trend?

For three days in a row, we were the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter and Google. Other people tried to claim it. Brooke Baldwin from CNN, jumped in and said, it's BYCHARI. 

A couple of imposters were running all kinds of false ads with images of our products. People would purchase jewelry, call us when they didn't receive it, and we would have to tell them they didn't actually order from us. It was awful. Eventually, an article by Forbes shut down the false advertising.

My PR team called me to schedule interviews — the first to reach out was Vanity Fair — I literally sat there and cried because, at that point, people knew it was BYCHARI. My publicist told me to stop crying and go home to rest because I needed to look good in the morning. 

Over the next two days, we had an insane amount of press, orders and outreach. I contacted everyone I knew who had a friend or cousin or someone who needed a job. We hired about 25 women. I called the building's landlord and got another unit. We got lamps, folding tables and chairs, and we did our best to create a new office.

Q: How has this moment continued to shape your business?

The amazing, glowy takeaway is that our name recognition has been amazing. If you say BYCHARI, a lot of people know our brand. We're in the Smithsonian gift shop, and they consistently sell out, which is unreal. Our PR team did an outstanding job ensuring we were on top of all the interview requests.

But I now know these big moments can either make or break businesses. While it didn't break us, it definitely strained our infrastructure. I wish I had been better prepared coming off that high. We also had a lot of people who were nasty to us, saying things like, "make jewelry, stay out of politics." I don't think it was fair for my team to have to deal with that.

Q: How can we use style to make a statement, especially as the election approaches?

I think jewelry is a declaration of personal style. If you choose to wear the VOTE necklace, you're showing people that you care — that you're committed to using your voice in this way. I'm also having conversations with When We All Vote and I Am Voter to see how we might partner ahead of the next presidential election.

Q: Women, especially women of color, have become an increasingly powerful driving force behind the vote — why is it important for us to use our voices in the next election?

If we as women, as individuals and as a collective, don't speak up and push for a change, then we suffer. Recent decisions by our government have proved that. 

I think you have to start somewhere — and if this necklace serves as an expression of your voice and your vote — then I'm happy that BYCHARI could be a piece of that.