Supplying the Mall of the Wild : Unbridled glitz of It’s a Jungle accessories is propelling a Santa Ana designer’s creations from Newport to New York.

There’s something wild about It’s a Jungle’s earrings and accessories.

They’re made out of leather. They’re shot full of metal studs. The cowboy hats, wide belts, handbags and earrings all have a profuse amount of dangling metal charms, faux gems and leather appliques. Sedate and tame they are not.

“These hats are subdued,” insists Angelique van der Sande, designer and owner of It’s a Jungle. She’s showing off her latest collection of felt cowboy hats extravagantly endowed with leather floral cutouts, beads and rhinestones.

“Some other hats we’ve done with lace on top are really wild,” she says.

With their unbridled glitz, it’s no surprise that It’s a Jungle’s cowboy hats have been sported by Chippendale’s flashy male dancers or that the entire accessory line is a big hit in Las Vegas and Dallas, home of rhinestone cowboys.

“We cannot make them enough for Texas,” Van der Sande says.

The opulent accessories also sell well on the civilized streets of New York City, although the tamer designs usually do best on the conservative East Coast. No less than 500 boutiques carry It’s a Jungle accessories across the country, including B. Magness Fashion in Newport Beach, Disneyland’s Bonanza gift shop and Image Works in Irvine.

“It’s a very spectacular line,” says Cecilia Goodman, co-owner of Image Works. “You can take a very plain outfit, put on one of their belts and you’ve got a look that really makes a statement.

“And because they have so many colors in them, the accessories can go with a number of different outfits instead of just one.”

In a windowless warehouse in Santa Ana, Van der Sande is surrounded by the ingredients of her craft: long tables with a maze of plastic boxes filled with metal charms and rhinestones; racks of leather hides embossed with a variety of prints in rich colors, and cutout leather appliques of leaves and flowers destined for the belts and hats.

Van der Sande helps assemble the pieces herself. A single pair of earrings in her spring collection requires no less than seven separate leather cutouts, a dozen gold studs, a rhinestone and a half-dozen charms. Never one to scrimp on trinkets, she adorns chain belts with charms and reversible medallions with rhinestones on one side for evening and Roman coins for day.

Her accessories often have themes. Some earrings come adorned with romantic cupids and hearts, while others have more mercenary charms, such as money bags, dollar signs and coins. Those do especially well in Vegas. One customer at Image Works who loved horses ordered It’s a Jungle’s Western-style earrings with horse shoes, cowboy boots and horses.

Van der Sande looks to the couture shows of Europe to stay on top of trends. When she saw designers showing black and white hound’s tooth prints in their fall collections, she used the same print for her accessories.

“For Christmas I had red plaid leather that I used for earrings. It was a big seller.”

She also gets ideas from the leather itself, choosing colorful paisley, polka dot, rainbow and floral prints. The small floral appliques with abstract swirls seen in her spring line were actually cut from large fruit and tulip patterns.

“Once the earring is made up, people don’t see the fruit,” Van der Sande says.

For spring she introduced earrings with large faux opals that she calls her Chanel look-alikes because the gems are surrounded by a gold chain intertwined with leather. Her dangle earrings--It’s a Jungle’s most popular line--have leather appliques set with a center rhinestone and dripping with loads of charms and leather cutouts. It’s a look that’s hard to define.

“It’s not Western. It’s not Indian,” Van der Sande says. “It’s contemporary.”

Born in Holland, the 46-year-old designer lived for 10 years in Mexico where she worked as a wardrobe consultant and made wall hangings out of suede. Leather proved to be a favorite medium.

After coming to the United States 15 years ago she began designing suede clothes. She once fashioned an Indian squaw’s costume for an episode of the now-defunct TV series “Dynasty.”

Six years ago she decided to create accessories because they could be worn all year, while leather garments tend to be too warm for spring and summer.

“I switched to belts with feathers,” she says.

While the venture proved successful, “feathers were coming out of our nose and ears. I couldn’t stand it anymore,” she says. The feathers have been replaced by leather and metal.

Earrings are a company staple, making up about 70% of the business. It’s a Jungle produces at least 50,000 pairs a year. The earrings sell for about $28 to $54 and belts sell for about $88.

For summer Van der Sande plans to introduce T-shirts with leather appliques that can be removed when the shirt needs washing.

With the exception of machines that punch studs into the leather and stamp out appliques much like a giant cookie cutter, most accessories are put together entirely by hand.

“These accessories are like paintings,” Van der Sande says. “Each is one of a kind.”