Southern transplants Natalie Holst and Rochelle Lee finish each other’s necklaces like they complete each other’s sentences. The best friends and co-founders of Brooklyn-based jewelry line |HOLST + LEE| met while running high-end restaurants and clubs in New York.  While rubbing elbows with New York’s fashion elite, they started making their bold, color-saturated necklaces together due to an inability to find that perfect piece to set off a look. And as women literally tried to buy the necklaces off their necks, they quickly realized the possibilities of creating a company with their unique designs. With double the inspiration—the two designers claim they work best when one of them starts a piece and the other finishes it— |HOLST + LEE| quickly took off and became a brand to watch.

Cleverly using contrasting colors and textures, the duo have beaded and thread-wrapped their way into the pages of Vogue as well as collaborations with designer Mara Hoffman and Cut 25 by Yigal Azrouel. Now based out of a studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the designers hand-make pieces that are inspired by different cultures and tribal aesthetics—funky, but with none of the gaudiness that tends to come from statement jewelry. The taste level and charm comes from the unexpected combinations of the necklaces. Natalie and Rochelle aren’t afraid to throw royal blue with techno pinks or mix brass with casually thick rope and oversized gems. They also often make necklaces from objects and pieces that they’ve collected over the years, giving the jewelry a look of casual elegance and thrown-together chic. It’s what every woman wants to be—statement-making without trying too hard.