Lea Stein bears and big cat brooches are made from layered cellulose acetate (Rhodoid) which is a type of early layered plastic (phenolic) material, a unique process developed by Lea Stein and her husband Fernand Steinberger (a chemist) in the early 1960s. Lea Stein was previously a designer for Coco Chanel.
The process involves first baking then cooling, and cutting the layered plastic material. With some pieces this can take many months. Leas claim to fame is that she says no two pieces are exactly alike and each brooch is unique.
Some of the very early pieces were in fact unsigned but mostly they are fitted with a V-shaped safety clasp signed “LEA STEIN PARIS”. For some of the smaller brooches she used a straight signed safety clasp as the V. Clasp would be too large.
