Lu Willard had aspirations about becoming a model.
Having graduated high school at 15 years old, and with two years of college completed, during the mid-1950s, she moved from New Orleans at 17 to join her mother who worked as a nurse’s aide at Harlem Hospital in New York.
“I came up to stay with her, and I did have a plan, because I picked up Jet magazine or Ebony, but I got the idea that I wanted to be a model,” Willard shared. But the decision to move to New York proved to be the right one.
Willard attended Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) because she was interested in “fashion and pretty things.” It was there that she took her first course in jewelrymaking. “Tony Paris was teaching jewelrymaking, and I liked it,” said Willard. She became adept in the physicality of jewelry making, like soldering, but her heart has always been in the creative side of the business. Her entry to the jewelry district more than 50 years ago was as an apprenticeship at Solow, while still working with Tony Paris.
During Willard’s 50-plus-year career in the jewelry business, she was literally the jewelry maker to Black stars. “Dick Gregory, the comedian, is one who introduced me to Michael Jackson when Michael Jackson was 17 years old. And so I started working, doing things for Michael,” said Willard. She built an impressive client list. Her standout piece was a $70,000 piano watch for Isaac Hayes.
Willard’s current work however isn’t tinged with celebrity. Her project with New York City Jewelry Connection aims to create a conversation around Black historical events using jewelry. It centers the Black experience anchored in Juneteenth. This has seen Willard designing and producing commemorative Juneteenth pendants for different persons and organizations. A Juneteenth pendant was presented to Al Sharpton, in recent years, and most recently, after the Rucker Park in Harlem was dedicated as a national historical site, Willard designed and produced a pendant to commemorate the occasion. As Willard looks to her future in the jewelry business, she has also launched a Juneteenth Design competition in Atlanta, which began Oct. 1. It will run through the spring and on April 28, a Grand Prize winner will be announced.
For purchase by regular customers, Willard has also designed and produced a charm bracelet. It has 10 charms that celebrate historical Black persons like the Tuskegee Airmen.
“The idea is to have someone see a charm that triggers a conversation,” shared Willard, “and hopefully, this can help to further the conversation around Black history outside of schools.”