As a Lego lover, these Dee & Ricky x Roc Star brooches featured on The Chic Report caught my eye. They also got me thinking: From where did this Lego-as-jewelry trend emerge? It must go further back than the brand’s work for the Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring 2008 collection, right?

In the first installment of Trendology–a fashionable spin on entomology, or the origin of words–I’ve attempted to pin the starting point of Lego fashion as we know it in 2010.

Like many trends, it’s been bubbling for quite some time. In fact, the first high-fashion interpretation of traditional Lego “culture,” if you will, occurred in 2004 when Brazilian designer Jum Nakao created Lego hair helmets for his Spring 2005 collection. Here’s a time line of key moments in Lego fashion, starting with Nakao.

2004

• Brazilian designer Jum Nakao creates crazy black Lego hair helmets for his Spring 2005 collection that resemble Anna Wintour’s bob.

2007

• Balenciaga debuts a Lego-inspired shoe for its Fall 2007 runway show.
• Dee & Ricky become fashion-household names when Marc Jacobs’ then-boyfriend Jason Preston meets the SoHo duo. Of course, he introduces them to the designer. Jacobs uses their Lego pins in his Marc by Marc Spring 2008 runway show.

2008

• Kanye West rocks D&R’s heart pin. Fashion girls squeal with delight.
• Several style Web sites offer D.I.Y. tutorials on Lego accessories.
• Neiman Marcus uses life-sized Lego models in its holiday catalog.
• East London designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac creates Lego accessories for his Spring 2009 collection.

2009

• Balenciaga sues knock-off king Steve Madden for copying its Lego-inspired heels.
• Lego attempts to cash-in on its trendiness by introducing a limited edition series of architectural micro-scale models of famous buildings like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water.

2010

• Design team Dee & Ricky create a series of bird pins with Japanese label Rock Star.

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