Fine arts was the plan (isn’t that how a lot of these stories start?). While in art school, Laura Lombardi took a part-time job at a jewelry store, and slowly found herself incorporating elements of jewelry into her sculpture work. Her eponymous line of jewelry — now, influenced by sculpture — was born in 2010. To this day, everything is handmade in New York City from a melange of new, recycled, and found materials.