As I adjust to this new normal of home-schooling, trying to keep my son Tru happy and entertained, and shipping your orders from home, I am grateful that I've been so fortunate to work with so many amazing female founders over the last few years. Meeting each and every innovator in my Findings features has brought me joy and camaraderie that is especially important as we each navigate our new reality of working from home. Just days before we began to self-quarantine, I had the pleasure of hosting Emily Current and Meritt Elliott — co-founders and designers of not 1 but 2 cult-fave brands - The Great. and Emily + Meritt. (not to mention their hugely successful design partnership with Pottery Barn!). Their stunning brick-and-mortar flagship store in LA is a haven for Angelenos in search of ultra-wearable clothes, shoes and accessories. This design duo began as BFF’s and their friendship bloomed into a brilliant partnership (they call it a “marriage”) that has spanned over 2 decades. Emily and Meritt aim to tell a story with each piece they create, which results in a nostalgic, relaxed style all their own. In person, they are the epitome of cool Americana vibes – wearing to die for denim, bright and airy springtime tops, and layers of fine and heirloom jewels. I cannot get enough of their relaxed silhouettes and rock their line non-stop and I am stocking up on their latest collection to add to my everyday WFH essentials. | photos by annie mcelwain |

Emily arrived and immediately ordered a coffee—her third of the day, to caffeinate before diving right into the jewelry. As a collector of all things sparkly, she flocked to sentimental pieces with a wow factor. She donned a large celestial protection medallion and layered it with a dangling bezel diamond eternity necklace. For her ears, she went with a pearl studded look layering our pearl & diamond chain earrings with pearl and diamond stud hoops and an extra small huggie hoop. Emily wears a mix of antique and fine gold rings on every finger IRL so it was no surprise she opted for mega-watt options for her look. Naturally, her stunning engagement ring took center stage next to our emerald cut eternity band and marquis eye signet ring. On the other hand she chose our large oval signet ring and collections/findings-24-emily-and-meritt/products/14k-half-round-ring-with-pear-diamond on her pinky! This aficionado sure knows her rings!

Meritt is equally as skilled as Emily at her style game. They both wear layers on layers of gold treasures and have a keen eye for choosing just the right styles to accentuate their signature looks. Merritt was not shy with her neck story and chose our 14k herringbone chain, large curb chain and pave diamond faux toggle necklace - 3 of my current faves! On her ears, she gravitated to our best-selling huggie hoop and chubby collections, opting for a pair of our 14k gold chubby huggies with our small bezel huggie on one ear and on the other, she donned the large pave huggie, double wire pave huggie hoop and our super sparkly pave chubby ear cuff to top it off.

Meritt is a kindred spirit when it comes to her cuff and ring stacks, where more is more! She layered our two of our half round cuffs with a pearl and 3 bezel diamond open cuff with her own gorgeous pave diamond bangle. She went big and chose to stack two of our classic signet rings - pave initial signet ring and our pave halo signet ring next to our chubby pave wide band ring Even before their inspiring styling sesh, I was enamored by Emily & Meritt's incredible entrepreneurial spirit and the story of each brand they've nurtured over their 20+ year partnership. They manage the life/work balance with grace and I will continue to look to them as models of what successful female founders can do. They lead with love, create with heart and soul, and give back to the community that has helped them to thrive. I count myself lucky to know them and look forward to watching their stars rise higher and higher over the next 20 years!