Me & Ro jewelry has developed a cult status among fashionistas because some celebrities have fallen in love with the line and worn it on magazine covers and during red-carpet appearances.

The New-York-based design duo of Robin Renzi and Michele Quan first came to the forefront of fashion when their "film star fairy godmother," Julia Roberts, contacted them to ask for jewelry to wear in every scene of "Notting Hill." The actress subsequently wore Me & Ro in "The Mexican" and when she received her Academy Award in 2000. She has been wearing their jewelry ever since.

While many jewelry companies pay celebrities and their stylists for such exposure, for Me & Ro it was accidental. Roberts spotted their jewelry on a yoga teacher and subsequently worn by a friend of Benjamin Bratt's (Roberts' boyfriend at the time), and the actress insisted on meeting the designers. On a Saturday afternoon, she found them in their little Nolita studio and purchased a number of pieces. Their lives have never been the same.

Charlize Theron, Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Aniston all buy Me & Ro's Asian-inspired necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets. Courtney Cox is wearing Me & Ro earrings and a bracelet on this month's cover of In Style magazine. Her stylist, Freddy Leiva, is a fan of Me & Ro. And the list goes on.

The latest coup for the design duo is "Memoirs of a Geisha." The film, currently in post-production, will feature combs by Me & Ro. Academy-Award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (who also designed for "Chicago," "Big Fish," and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events") asked them to create headpieces for the geisha to wear during key scenes. Renzi made a trip to Kyoto at cherry-blossom time to research the fashions and the environment and, as a result, the latest collection from Me & Ro is inspired by the film and the Japanese aesthetic.

Honolulu folks will be the first to see this collection when Renzi presents a trunk show of gold and platinum pieces not normally sold in Hawai'i. In addition, the one-of-a-kind pieces include "lots of platinum, huge turquoise beads, lapis and 1,000-year-old Tibetan coral. One necklace is 26 inches of aquamarine beads on platinum wire. There are lots of stones that you simply cannot get anymore," Renzi gushed in a phone interview from her New York studio.

Renzi has not done a trunk show for five years. She chose Honolulu for several reasons, some business, others personal.

Her boyfriend, Brazilian Ricardo De Oliveira, is a passionate surfer who wants to experience Island waters. Renzi is also anxious to take surf lessons.

In addition, the designer hopes to make it to the Big Island to join Mariska Hargitay, a co-star of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit." Hargitay heads up the Joyful Heart Foundation, which supports victims of sexual abuse. She and six survivors will be in Kona Aug. 20 for a party sponsored by In Style and Quiksilver.

Last December, Me & Ro designed an English version of their Fearlessness pendant for Hargitay's foundation. Sales of the $100 necklace have raised $22,000 in just six months, thanks in part to a link from Hargitay's fan Web site to theirs.

Me & Ro will introduce a $45 version of the Joyful Heart next month to attract a younger, less-affluent client.

Renzi hopes to join the actress and the survivors for a swim with the dolphins: "She's taking the survivors there because they say it's supposed to open their hearts."

Renzi said she would love to spend more time in the Islands, visiting Maui and Kaua'i, but that she has pressing business issues, as she will open her first West Coast Me & Ro store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles in December. She must meet with the architect to plan the space.

Me & Ro has a history of helping not-for-profit organizations. It raised $15,000 for the Tibet Fund, which assists elderly Tibetan refugees in Nepal. The designers also created a limited edition of 15 $5,000 bracelets for Doctors of the World, with the message "Love, Compassion, Faith and Hope" in French on one side and in English on the other. All but one has sold.

BOHO SO RO

The current passion for all things bohemian has caused a surge in the popularity of Me & Ro jewelry. But there may be a deeper reason why the line has developed a cult-like following.

The line is a modern interpretation of ancient jewelry traditions. Renzi believes jewelry speaks to the need to adorn oneself while communicating who we are through amulets that express personal beliefs.

The philosophies of India, Tibet and Zen Buddhism help direct the duo's aesthetic. "It's all about kindness to human beings. Think kind thoughts of other people. Sometimes it's really hard to do. It's crazy out there in the world," Renzi said.

It is these beliefs that inspire Me & Ro's aesthetic. The ancient concept of amulets is evident in their pendants engraved with Chinese and Sanskrit inspirational messages: "love, devotion, fearlessness, wisdom, compassion."

"Jewelry is absolutely sentimental and has been around forever. It outlives us. It symbolizes birth, marriage, death. Our designs embrace all that," Renzi said.

Although their rise may seem rapid to much of the world, Renzi and Quan paid their dues for more than a decade before being "discovered." The business began in the back of Renzi's Elizabeth Street apartment in 1991.

Renzi began designing and making gold and silver jewelry in high school. She moved to New York to become a dancer, "so I was a waitress, of course," she said, laughing.

The partners met at Indochine restaurant, where they were moonlighting. "Michele was tired of modeling, and I was tired of the hand-to-mouth thing, so we started a jewelry company." The business now has 70 employees.

"There were times when Michele wanted to give up, especially after she had a baby," Renzi said. "The only reason we're still here is that I refused to give up. It's just so hard. The integrity of your design is the most important thing, and you have to have that commitment and to not care what anyone else says. ... It's the school of hard knocks, honey."

She doesn't recommend doing things the way Me & Ro did them. "If I were smart I would have gone to another jeweler and learned the ropes before going out on my own," she said. "But we were all passion and 'just go for it.' If I had known what I was up against, I wouldn't have done it. Ignorance can be bliss."