La Pulce - a story told through jewelry

Lyudmila: My love for jewelry has always been there. I’ve always wanted to stand out, to use jewelry as an accent - especially around the portrait area.

Whether we’re sitting at an office desk, a conference table, or in a restaurant with friends, the portrait area is always visible, and jewelry there does its job beautifully. These are bright, expressive accents that allow you to play, transform, and reinvent yourself.

And costume jewelry, thanks to its accessibility, makes it possible to create an extensive “jewelry wardrobe”: to experiment with different looks, roles, and moods without limitations.

Lyudmila: We purchased our first pieces almost immediately, quickly created a page on the now-banned social network, and borrowed the project’s name quite literally from a neighboring thrift store. La Pulce translates from Italian as “little flea” - a direct reflection of our love for vintage finds.

Then, with just our first 300 followers, we made our very first sale - and that became the turning point. It was so inspiring that all doubts disappeared. We knew we had to continue.

Lyudmila: Our very first piece was a scarecrow-shaped brooch inspired by a 1940s Trifari scarecrow brooch. It turned out incredibly soulful, warm, and full of character. Of course I remember it - and naturally, I kept one for my personal archive.

Lyudmila: La Pulce mainly works with vintage jewelry from the United States and Italy.

Over time, we also became specialists in Italian costume jewelry in particular.

We seek out historic second- and third-generation companies, work with their archives, study their heritage, share the stories of brands and designers with our audience, and bring back their finest - including historically significant - pieces.

The jewelry created under the La Pulce name did not happen by chance. Over the past ten years, an enormous number of vintage pieces have passed through my hands, and all that time I was unconsciously building an inner library of ideas - ideas that could be reimagined, interpreted, and modernized.

Vintage is an endless source of inspiration. That is precisely why La Pulce was born as a jewelry brand created in collaboration with our manufacturers - pieces we wanted to make ourselves and sign with our own name.

Lyudmila: We believe the opposite is true. Bold jewelry - large, expressive, statement-making, even abundant - is not only something you can wear, but something you should wear. It refreshes the overall look and shifts attention away from minor imperfections.

From our experience, these kinds of pieces make an outfit feel more vibrant and interesting, while making the woman wearing them appear more confident, visible, and self-assured.

Lyudmila: In our view, there are no taboos at all. Contemporary fashion is incredibly multifaceted and allows us to wear and mix almost anything. Today, diamonds can easily coexist with the simplest and even the most unexpected materials - plastic, felt, leather, and more.

The only thing worth approaching with some caution is overly naïve themes. Jewelry with strongly playful, childlike, or fairy-tale motifs may not always be the most flattering choice.

That said, even this depends entirely on individuality. If someone’s personal style is built around playfulness, irony, or theatricality, then such pieces can look completely natural and justified.

Lyudmila: First and foremost, a jewelry stylist tries to understand the client: her style, lifestyle, needs, and goals. An essential part of this process is reviewing her jewelry box.

Style and lifestyle ultimately determine which pieces will truly be useful and relevant.

A jewelry review opens up several possibilities at once: it helps identify opportunities for new purchases, organize and refresh existing pieces, and let go of jewelry that no longer aligns with a person’s lifestyle, status, or professional life.

Lyudmila: The jewelry we bring to La Pulce belongs to the world of costume jewelry. The foundation is bronze and brass with mandatory gold or silver plating, crystals, enamels, acrylics, plexiglass, pearls - including baroque pearls - as well as various minerals and gemstones such as chrysoprase, amethyst, and many others.

Lyudmila: There is no such thing as an ideal La Pulce client. Women are far too different, and the goal is not to make them the same. Perhaps the only thing they share is a love of beauty.

For us, jewelry is a powerful visual language through which every woman can tell her own story. It can communicate professionalism and expertise, sensuality or creativity. Our task is to help her tell that story.

Lyudmila: I began building my archive out of greed - in the very best sense of the word. An enormous number of unique vintage pieces passed through my hands, and over time I realized from experience that many of them never reappear.

At first, certain pieces seem like something you’ll “find again later,” but over the span of about ten years, I watched entire categories of brands and jewelry practically disappear from the vintage market.

That’s why I consciously began keeping exceptional examples. Usually, there are several criteria.

First, there are book pieces - jewelry featured in books and catalogs, pieces that are historically significant.

Second, there are designs with outstanding creative or engineering ideas, where you can clearly see the intellectual effort behind them: clever transformable jewelry, unusual construction techniques, innovative clasps, and unique ways pieces sit on the body.

And finally, there are pieces that are useful to me as a stylist - for fashion editorials, red carpet appearances, and projects where every client and every assignment requires unique solutions. In that sense, a vintage archive becomes incredibly valuable.

I hope that one day we’ll organize our own exhibition and visually present the history of jewelry - literally telling that story through real objects.

Lyudmila: My wish is directly connected to jewelry and beauty. So often, we postpone important things “for later.” We admire other women - the way they feel about themselves, the confidence with which they dress, the freedom with which they express themselves - while putting our own desires and decisions on hold.

So my main advice is simple: even if you’re not completely sure, but you truly want something - do it. Whether it’s travel, relationships, or jewelry, it doesn’t matter. It’s always better to do it than to regret not doing it.