By: Brian Harper
Community Outreach Coordinator
Stan’s Fit For Your Feet is thrilled to announce the opening of a new jewelry and accessory department in our Brookfield location, with additional departments coming soon in our Glendale and Greenfield stores!
Stan’s new jewelry and accessory department!
From earrings, bracelets, jewelry pouches, purses and wallets to pendants, cuffs, makeup bags and scarves, these items offer the perfect avenue to accessorizing your wardrobe from head to toe.
One line we are particularly enthusiastic about is Luca+Stella. It is a bracelet company run by third generation jewelry designers, which is fitting for our third generation family business! Their beautiful pieces are made in the United States. Luca+Stella also have the special touch that is such a part of our business’s fabric.
Luca+Stella
Luca+Stella’s founder, Fred Magnanimi, says his company “is rooted in love, loss and the eternal bond between two brothers.” Fred worked as an investment banker but comes from a family with more than 60 years’ experience in the jewelry manufacturing business. His younger brother, Danny, was especially devoted to his family’s work.
“Danny was very passionate about the family business and had hopes of re-inventing things,” says Fred.
Tragically, Danny passed away in 2013 after a tough battle with cancer. He was 33.
“His bout with cancer forever changed my life in so many ways,” says Fred. “I felt that cancer could take away his physical attributes, but I refused to let it take away his dream. Armed with that motivation, I did the only plausible thing possible – quit my lucrative banking gig, relocated my young family to Rhode Island and embarked on a mission to help preserve his dream!”
Luca+Stella are the names of Fred’s two young children and Danny’s nephew and niece. It is apt, then, that the company’s products are familial, personal and entirely handmade, putting to use “some very old school and labor intensive techniques.”
“No two [bracelets] are ever the same,” says Fred. “The genesis behind the bracelet was to create something unique and fun – something that was a different form of a bangle and one that could prominently display our signature charms and beads.”
Some of Luca+Stella’s bracelet’s come with lovely gem designs. Others have charms derived from ancient symbols that Fred and his team have reinterpreted. Each charm comes with a card explaining the particular bangle’s significance. Lucky Feather’s credo, for example, reads, “A symbol of new beginnings, feathers fall from the sky unexpectedly but not without purpose.” Tree of Life says, “With its branches reaching for the Heavens and its roots firmly grounded in Mother Earth, the tree of life is a symbol of balance & harmony.”
Luca+Stella’s Vintage Cross Bracelet
A variety of Luca+Stella’s bracelets are available at Stan’s in Brookfield.
“The bracelets are oval shaped and feature a ‘hook and catch’ closure on the base, which allows for the bangle to be put on and removed easily,” explains Fred. “The bracelet comes in two finishes: an oxidized brass and a silver finish. We offer two sizes (regular and small), which allows for proper sizing. On each of the bangles, we hand-wrap either a metal casting or beads/pearls/stones. The wrapping aspect allowed us to feature the charm/beads prominently on the top of the bangle versus having it hand down as a traditional charm bracelet.”
Fred describes Luca+Stella as being a family.
“As a business owner, I take a great deal of pride in seeing a buzzing factory, a full parking lot and a growing employee base that appreciates the opportunity to have a job and become part of our ‘Luca+Stella family,’ to which they understand the message behind what we are doing.”
We are proud to share Luca+Stella’s wonderful jewelry in our Stan’s store in Brookfield. Stop in to try on one of their stunning bracelets!
Leave a Reply