In August of 2004, Leetie Lovendale’s sister company The Beadin’ Path purchased the entire warehouse contents of a Rhode Island plastics company. It included over 40,000 pounds of Vintage Lucite jewelry components that were manufactured between the 1960’s-1980’s for companies such as Avon, Coro, Trifari & Monet. Beads made up for ½ of the stock, but the other half consisted of these strange & sculptural hoops, loops, buckles & parts that did not lend themselves well to the bead market. For fear of the cost of hauling & housing this extra stock, the extra ‘weird parts’ were almost left behind for the local dump. When (Leetie-designer & co-owner of The Beadin’ Path) Heather DeSimone’s hoarding instincts took over, we found ourselves with 20,000 lbs of raw vintage plastics. After a year of playing & designing and more playing, Leetie Lovendale was born. Our entire line is proudly made in the states by talented & local craftspeople. Instead of sending our products out of the country for production, we decided to hire people who wanted to work in their own homes here in our own neighborhood: seamstresses, jewelry makers, stay-at-home Moms and more. The quality and care that goes into each piece is evident when you touch a belt or wear a pair of earrings.