STYLE MAKERS; Jay Feinberg: Jewelry Designer

By ELAINE LOUIEJUNE 18, 1989 This is a digitized version of an article from The Times's print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems. Please send reports of such problems to . Jay Feinberg designs large-scale flashy costume jewelry for the extroverted woman. A silver-plated 40-inch-long chain is studded with 4,000 glittering Austrian crystals. Two-inch-wide wood bangles are hand-painted to look like leopard or zebra. ''The jewelry is strong and loud,'' said the 28-year-old designer, who is based in Manhattan. ''You want somebody to see it.''In Oscar de la Renta's fall couture collection, models wore strands of Mr. Feinberg's jewel-colored Lucite beads encased in filigree. At Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the designer has his own jewelry counter.One secret of Mr. Feinberg's success is that he adapts to emerging fashion trends. In 1987, when Christian Lacroix introduced his rose-splattered pouf dresses, Mr. Feinberg designed an earring made of a silk rose, from which dangled strands of beads.This year, he saw that Oscar de la Renta and Romeo Gigli were designing opulent clothes incorporating paisleys, filigree and embroidery. In response, Mr. Feinberg designed paisley jewelry studded with tiny stones. When Yves Saint Laurent and Gianfranco Ferre produced clothes with animal prints, Mr. Feinberg made leopard and zebra accessories.''Costume jewelry is ephemeral,'' he said. ''It's designed to go with the season.''Mr. Feinberg got his start in 1981, after his sophomore year at the Rhode Island School of Design, when he began making necklaces of painted wooden beads. Bergdorf Goodman and Henri Bendel became customers. Eventually, he dropped out of college with his family's blessings, and money, behind him.''My mother said, 'He's not going to be a doctor, so he doesn't need a degree,' '' Mr. Feinberg said. His parents invested in his business, and signed on as employees of their youngest son. Marty, his father, is the business manager, and his mother, Penny, manages the showroom.A version of this article appears in print on June 18, 1989, on Page 1001034 of the National edition with the headline: . Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe