Designer for the stars

Buying strands of beads and experimenting with color combinations seemed like simple fun to Amy Leiner when she started making jewelry 16 years ago.

A former graphics designer, Leiner thought this new hobby would be a nice aside to her life.

That was until Martha Stewart stepped in and changed everything.

She was developing her own clientele, but in 1999, Martha Stewart got wind of Leiner, and “Martha Stewart Living” did a segment on her – a segment that still airs occasionally, Leiner said.

“That was a great coup. Really amazing, great advertising,” Leiner said one afternoon in her Madison, Conn., studio.

Her white-and-brown Cavalier King Charles spaniel was prancing around the store. Leiner was seated at her cluttered desk, eyes hiding behind bangs, coffee cup in hand.

Leiner became interested in making jewelry when her niece introduced her to a type of clay that she used to make beads. One thing led to another, and Leiner was traveling to crafts and trade shows displaying her necklaces and other pieces.

What started as a hobby now keeps Leiner’s phone ringing, with Hollywood stylists’ wanting to know if they can get some of her pieces for their celebrity clients. Gwyneth Paltrow and Goldie Hawn have worn her jewelry. Women’s Wear Daily and other publications across the country have photographed her work. Broadway stars have worn her stuff. And Jane Seymour, who met Leiner at a trade show in New York, has become her biggest advocate, getting Leiner’s necklaces worn by cast members in the movie hit “The Wedding Crashers.”

Much of her jewelry is chunky and bright, no two designs alike. The necklaces and bracelets and some of the earrings are full of mismatching beads and gemstones, and plenty of Swarovski crystals to add shine.

“It’s exciting,” Leiner said of her success, acknowledging, though, that she’s tired.

“I feel a little bit overwhelmed. I feel like I need help. I love to be involved in everything, and I need to back off. Every piece that leaves here gets my blessing,” she said.

But Leiner knows there’s no time for rest. She’s the type of person who creates work when it seems there’s nothing to be done, she admits. And she was asked to “sponsor” both the Golden Globe Awards and the Sundance Film Festival, which means she, along with many other sponsors, will be given rooms at designated locations near the main events to exhibit work. The celebrities raid the sponsors’ exhibits and get free stuff. In turn, the sponsors get publicity. Leiner will trek west for the events in January.

“Exposure is exposure,” she said.

Her studio is filled with color. There are hundreds upon hundreds of strands of beads hanging from her walls. The giant lazy Susan worktable is covered with cups of beads.

There are stones of lemon quartz, turquoise, jasper, genuine rock crystals and amethyst, among others. The Tibetan carnelian stones are a major feature in the spring 2006 collection.

Then there are Swarovski crystals, which Leiner spends $100,000 a year buying because “that’s what makes our pieces sparkle so,” she says.

Her style is hard to duplicate because of the variety of stones and gems; each necklace design features differing bead patterns, none of which are repeated within that design.

Contrast and color are her mantra and are what have attracted buyers to her products.

“The jewelry I do is dramatic. It’s dramatically colorful,” says Leiner, who calls herself a dramatic diva. “We use the woman’s body as a canvas. It’s like a painting, with all the colors.”

Her pieces are copyrighted, something she does to protect her company from copycats who may see her jewelry on TV or in movies. She’s known for her Ladder Necklace, which looks like a beaded ladder hanging down from the neck, and the Lariat Necklace, which doesn’t have a clasp. Most of her jewelry clasps within itself.

Leiner’s jewelry is priced from $50 to $2,500, and pieces take 40 minutes to three hours to make, depending on size, length and intricacy. Leiner adds new designs to her inventory about every three months. Some are limited edition, but others are replicated as best as possible to fill store orders.

“Things that people wouldn’t normally put together, I put together,” Leiner said.

Leiner says she has gotten this far because of her “dream team.” There’s a metalsmith and a production assistant. Another, Kelley Marks, who has worked with Leiner for two years, was recently offered the chance to form a niche in the company by designing earrings.

Now that there’s an Amy Leiner Designs store, celebrities from afar and people closer to home can wear her work. Customers have come from as far as Maine, she said.

“Since I opened this flagship store, I see so many people wearing it. They tell me that every time they wear it, they get stopped on the street,” Leiner said. “It makes me feel proud that my crazy mind is being appreciated by the general public.”