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Their beads and baubles have hung from the neck of Michelle Obama and adorned the head of Lady Gaga, but Detroit natives Karen Erickson and Vicki Beamon are still in touch with their Motor City roots. The crowning influence behind their unique pieces — chandelier earrings, cuffs, necklaces, brooches and bangles tricked out with pearls, pewter, suede and Swarovski crystals — is Detroit, a design mecca that embraces originality.

“That bit of rock ‘n’ roll and glamour combination originated in Detroit,” Beamon says. “We both had such fun growing up.”

Erickson Beamon’s creations, so breathtaking they wouldn’t look out of place in a museum, are masterpieces in their own right, gracing high-profile real estate from the windows of Barneys New York to the necklines of heiress Daphne Guinness and actress Helen Mirren. For nearly 30 years, socialites seeking an edge and rockers in search of their softer sides have found it in Erickson Beamon’s creations.

Once regulars at Studio 54, the duo got its start making look-at-me jewelry for a friend’s runway show in the early ’80s. The friends are still designing custom pieces for the runway — but now for shows by top houses like Givenchy, Dior, Chanel and fellow Detroiter Anna Sui.

“Every day is a creative challenge, and I know that I am very blessed,” Beamon says.

In the studio, Erickson and Beamon flex their creative muscles designing asymmetrical handcrafted beaded necklaces and delicate crystals strung on suede. They also let their wild side run rampant: Lady Gaga can thank the designers for both the black Chantilly lace veil she wore at the ACE Awards and the Swarovski crystal-encrusted helmet and matching eyelashes she wore for a CNN interview.

Inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America this summer, Erickson and Beamon have received high praise around the world. Washington Post fashion reporter Robin Givhan, another native Detroiter, hails the pair’s ability to “conjure up an unseemly kind of lust in a woman” and its jewelry as “relentlessly glamorous and ruthless in its decadence.”

The boldface names agree. Erickson and Beamon have outfitted close to 100 of them, including Angelina, Gwyneth, Jen and Winona. And Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) unlocked the key to Blair Waldorf’s (Leighton Meester) heart with a diamond Erickson Beamon necklace for her birthday on an episode of Gossip Girl.

The collection sells in more than 30 countries and retails at boutiques in Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Birmingham from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars a pop. Online retailers Net-A-Porter and Amazon carry the collection, as well as Saks Fifth Avenue.

Erickson Beamon’s London flagship is a surrealist dreamland on Elizabeth Street, where women 16 to 86 come searching for the next must-have, attention-grabbing piece that will define their personal style. “It is not a taste acquired by age but by self-confidence and a desire for self-expression,” says Beamon.

ericksonbeamon.com