Although 2006 Duke grad Lizzie Fortunato, 23, who worked briefly as a fashion publicist and started Lizzie Fortunato Jewels with her twin sister and business partner, Kathryn, last year, had noticed the large numbers of elaborate costume pieces popping up on runways and in stores, it didn't deter her from going into the business. "My sister keeps saying that the market is getting saturated, but this is what I've been doing for years — sewing, beading, searching for trinkets," says Fortunato. Her collection, which includes beaded headbands, chiffon-rosette collar necklaces as well as chains of dangling vintage whalebone poker chips (which she stumbled upon in Uruguay), was showcased at a SoHo loft party hosted by Annabelle Dexter-Jones and Alexandra Richards late last month. The line, which wholesales from $30 to $250, has landed at a number of boutiques, among them Albertine in Manhattan and Stuart & Wright in Brooklyn, and it will be at Bergdorf Goodman beginning in mid-May. "It's about feminizing a masculine look," Fortunato says, "but also creating statement pieces that someone can wear to a big event and feel just as elegant as if they were wearing fancy stones." And though the swift, ever-fickle tides of fashion have swept out many a jewelry line after just a few seasons, to hear these designers tell it, there are no shortages of creative juices — or, for that matter, ribbons, metal and buttons — to fuel costume-piece production. "In this city, everyone is kind of perched on the edge of their seats to see what is coming up next," Yarborough says. "But I think that works in our favor, for this colorful, innovative style. There's more freedom than ever to push the limits of what people want to wear."

PHOTOS BY THOMAS IANNACCONE; styled by shoshanna fischhoff