Brooches, missing jewels, unpolished coins and broken strands of pearls are treasures to jewelry designer Lauren Weiner.
As designer and owner of HEAVYMETALbyLW, Weiner makes costume jewelry out of repurposed materials — primarily older antiques and broken jewelry pieces.
Weiner started designing in 2009 after graduating from the University with a degree in philosophy. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and said the job search there wasn’t working out. After unsuccessfuly handing out résumés, she turned to another activity.
“I was bored one day and decided to pick up an old pair of pliers, and I had this old J.Crew necklace that had broken, and I was like, ‘I’m just going to try and take it apart and put it back together,’” Weiner said. “I just kind of played with it and started adding pieces to it and then ending up giving it to my cousin, and she wore it to a party where a stylist in Nashville saw it and asked her if I had anything else.”
Weiner said she quickly designed another piece to send to the stylist and it ended up being used in a music video for country band Steel Magnolia. Later, Weiner moved back to Baton Rouge but continued to design.
All of Weiner’s jewelry design skills are self taught. She said she learns better through active learning, and being able to pull things apart helps teach her how to put pieces back together. Everything for HEAVYMETALbyLW is made out of repurposed items from flea markets and what people give her.
She said she’ll receive items like broken necklaces and items with missing jewels. A lot of people don’t like the idea of keeping things that can’t be worn around, so Weiner gets the opportunity to turn it into something new and updated.
“One of the first pieces I made, my grandfather was a lieutenant, and it was his old badge. So I made a bracelet out of it,” Weiner said.
When designing, Weiner takes things apart and puts things together continuously. She said sometimes she’ll take a piece and only add to it, but others she’ll completely dismantle to create something new. There is a set of polished, outdated coins Weiner has used at least 20 times in jewelry by designing them one way and then pulling it apart to create another look.
“A lot of times, the vision that I have in my head starting out is nowhere near what I end up with,” Weiner said.
Most of the orders for HEAVYMETALbyLW are custom.
Weiner said sometimes the stylist from Nashville will still call her for pieces for clients, but most of her customers are now local. She’s also a wardrobe consultant and said she thinks both professions go hand in hand. Customers can see her work as a designer and trust her more as a stylist.
She’s also seen an increase in local consumers buying the style of items she creates.
“When I started doing what I was doing, nobody really, especially in Baton Rouge, was into that whole chunky, costume jewelry. They were very into just kind of more of like a safer [look],” Weiner said.
In the last year, she’s put more energy into her business to really get back into the swing of things after taking some time off. She said her older pieces focus more on pastels and dark colors, but recently she’s been experimenting with brighter colors.
You can reach Meg Ryan on Twitter @The_MegRyan.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Javier Fernández

Local owner and designer of HEAVYMETALbyLW Lauren Weiner displays her collection of neckless Wednesday, April 14, 2015 inside her house in Baton Rouge.