Artist Jill Fagin had previously designed jewelry as a hobby in high school and college. In 1987, fresh out of NYU film school, Jill began a career as a stylist in the film industry. The next year her budding film career was interrupted by the screen writer's strike and Jill revived her hobby by designing and manufacturing jewelry out of her apartment to make ends meet. Her jewelry line was advertised in the simplest of ways her friends all wore it. A short time later, she and her friends were out on the town and they were spotted and photographed by a reporter for Woman's Wear Daily. That led to the first of many articles about Jillery. Her designs quickly caught on and Jill began selling to stores and fashionable galleries in the New York area. What began as a hobby soon became a sensation. Later, Jill shifted her attention from jewelry to house wares and focused on transforming ordinary, and sometimes dull household items into fun, funky and most important functional art.