How I Got Here: Sara Bieler Sasson Makes Jewelry and Hair Accessories Her Art

By Karen Dybis | March 04, 2026

Sara Bieler Sasson sees Manhattan with an artist’s eye—she can translate the roughness of tree bark in Central Park or the mirrored reflections of store and high-rise windows into designs for her jewelry band Lelet NY.

For spring, Lelet—which originally made hair accessories, before expanding into jewelry—is bringing florals and other nature inspirations to its jewelry line. Think finely detailed daisy earrings, a sterling silver jug pendant to hold a single bloom around your neck, or mother-of-pearl shell necklaces that catch the light at every undulation.

“We have a very specific point of view, which is modern and architectural,” Sasson says. “The right piece of jewelry can transform your look and your self-confidence. I love that I get to design what I think of as wearable pieces of art.”

Zoe jug Lelet — *Jewelry as vase: Lelet’s Zoe jug necklace ($425) is hollow, so you can wear a fresh or dried foliage stem in it.*

Sasson was born on Manhattan’s Upper East Side to parents who worked in research and education. Her mother took her on frequent walks up and down Madison Avenue, treating the elegant shops’ window displays like artwork in a museum. Diagnosed with dyslexia at 3 years old, Sasson says she felt drawn to art, color, and composition from that young age.

“One of the questions I was asked when I received testing was ‘What is the color of a ruby?’ I answered ‘red,’ but was unable to recognize simple letters from the alphabet. So I guess this profession chose me,” Sasson says.

Her family moved to Maryland when she was 5, and from 10th grade on, Sasson attended a public magnet school for art in the mornings and her regular private school afterward. Her most vivid memory of those years is going from one school to the other with paint all over her hands.

In her senior year of high school, Sasson had an internship at an interior design firm in Washington, D.C. Her primary task was organizing samples, and from that, she learned more about color, texture, and each material’s weight.

Nellie Lelet — *The Vini drop earrings ($228) and Nellie shell necklace with mother-of-pearl inlay ($278) are from Lelet NY’s spring collection.*

“The owner of the company was an older man—he had gone to Parsons, the school I had just selected to attend [for college] a few months earlier,” says Sasson. “He told me Parsons would teach me everything I needed to know, and that I should soak it all in. He was right.”

She graduated from Parsons in 2006, with a degree in architecture, and then worked for a year at an interior architecture firm, JB&C.

In 2008, after getting married and having her daughter, she joined Steve & Barry’s, a now defunct clothing retailer (similar to H&M). She helped design the retrofit of old stores into new Steve & Barry’s locations. The company was struggling during the 2008 financial crisis, and Sasson says it was clear the end was near.

“While everyone was sitting in their cubicles watching YouTube, waiting to be laid off, I decided to start making little hair clips for my baby girl and maybe sell some extra ones on the side,” she says. “I brought my glue gun to work and used the office printer to make branded velum packaging.”

By the time Sasson’s boss called her into his office to tell her she would be laid off, she’d built out a little brand, which she called Lelet after her daughter, Ayelet.

Lelet officially debuted in 2010 with hair accessories only, but Sasson added jewelry at her clients’ request. They wanted matching jewelry pieces to wear with their sculptural ponytail holders, metal crochet bandanas, metallic claw clips, and glossy barrettes.

For all her products, Sasson begins by hand-drawing sketches and then adapting them into CAD files. From those, wax models are made, and the items are cast and polished. Lelet’s pieces are handcrafted in New York City, and the brand is sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Paris’ Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, among other retailers.

Sasson’s work has graced the heads of celebrities, including Margot Robbie in the new film “Wuthering Heights” and Anne Hathaway on the red carpet and in Vogue magazine.

“I’ve really enjoyed expanding our assortment into jewelry and other categories that complete the worldview of Lelet,” Sasson says. “It truly is my dream job. Getting to be creative every day is a gift.”

Top: Ivy crystal earrings ($298) are among the floral creations by designer Sara Bieler Sasson for Lelet’s spring 2026 collection. (Photos courtesy of Lelet NY)