Unexpected model: Charlotte reacts to photo of Mayor Vi Lyles in a crown logo hoodie
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, wearing a simple black hoodie with the Queen City crown logo, surprised social media on Wednesday with an unexpected modeling gig.
Lyles — still looking polished with a pearl necklace and earrings, plus trousers — struck a confident pose in a tweet from 704 Shop, billed as Charlotte’s original lifestyle and apparent brand.
“Swaaggggg,” 704 Shop tweeted, garnering more than 140 likes.
The mayor was asked last week to promote the city’s partnership with 704 Shop, city spokesman Jeremy Mills told the Observer Wednesday. More information on that partnership will be disclosed on Thursday.
Lyles was not paid to model for the store’s new merchandise, Mills said. 704 Shop is in South End, at 1616 Camden Road.
The tweet drew eager praise from residents and perhaps most importantly, the mayor’s daughter.
“If you think this is now my mom’s photo in my contacts, you are 100% correct,” Aisha Alexander-Young tweeted Wednesday afternoon. “If you think this is circulating in every group chat in my phone, you are also 100% correct.”
One Twitter user wrote she was “screaming!!” Another user said he needed “a remix to her airport recording wearing this sweatshirt.”
In one retweet, a Twitter user jokingly quoted Lyles as saying: “I didn’t choose the mayor life, the mayor life choose me.”
“DOPE,” another Twitter user said.
Not everyone seemed as amused about the mayor’s photo, including Larry Shaheen, a local attorney and Republican consultant. But Shaheen later told the Observer he was “actually quite amused.”
“What we learned from this picture: 1. @CLTMayor is running for election,” Shaheen tweeted, poking at Lyles’ reticence on a reelection bid this winter. “2. She is worried about a primary from her left.”
Ryan Pitkin, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Queen City Nerve, posted a “how it started” versus “how it’s going” meme, featuring some current and former city leaders dabbing.
The mayor and social media
It was perhaps a much-needed moment of levity for Charlotte, coming just one week after Lyles’ citywide mask mandate took effect in response to surging coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
But the mayor also achieved social media stardom earlier this year, as City Council members sparred over the contentious 2040 Comprehensive Plan, a land-use document guiding growth and development in Charlotte.
A screenshot of Lyles — hand pressed to her forehead, as she slouched in chair seemingly exhausted — during a May meeting went semi-viral, for Charlotte Twitter at least. Papers were strewn on her desk, with a smattering of tea bottles.
Lyles didn’t don a hoodie at that Council meeting, but she did have on pearls.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Unexpected model: Charlotte reacts to photo of Mayor Vi Lyles in a crown logo hoodie."