A trip to South America led Lenny Trines to her life’s work: designing beautiful, sustainable, cruelty-free statement jewelry using vegetable ivory. “I absolutely love this material, it has a wonderful purpose,” Lenny says. “[It helps] stop the killing of elephants to obtain ivory, prevents deforestation, it is 100 percent sustainable and its quality is superb.” It is almost identical to elephant ivory in hardness and appearance, and comes with the added bonus of helping to stimulate small economies in the Amazon. Sustainability is one of the first considerations when she and her business partner Juan Munoz source new materials. This led them to a new discovery: recycled cow horn. “I first used recycled cow horn in the A/W 2010 collection to design rings and during this time I learned a lot about this material and the potential it has to create some amazing pieces,” Lenny explains. There’s no doubt that when it comes to originality and sustainability, LeJu’s jewelry leads the pack. Learn more about this kind and colorful brand.

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