Kenneth Jay Lane

Elle Magazine has called Kenneth Jay Lane "the hottest costume jewelry designer around," and Aileen Mehle (Suzy) has anointed him as "the most famous American fantasy jewelry designer of the twentieth century." Others call him simply "Jewelry's Living Legend."

Trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, he began his career in fashion as a shoe designer for Dior. Since the 1960's, Kenneth Jay Lane has designed fashion costume jewelry for many of the most celebrated and influential women in the world, including First Ladies Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush; and legendary actors, socialites and royals such as Princess Diana and the Duchess of Windsor. More recently, leading cast members of HBO's Sex in the City have worn Kenneth Jay Lane creations befitting their style-setting wardrobes.

Kenneth was honored with the Coty America Fashion Critics Special Award and has received numerous other awards and citations from leading US retailers and the design industry. His work has been exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Fashion Institute of Technology. His book "Faking It" is considered an industry bible, and he has been on the International Best Dressed Men's list for over 20 years.

At recent auctions, Kenneth Jay Lane pieces have sold for fabulous prices. One piece sold for over $200,000 at auction, and Christie's produced an entire catalog of Kenneth Jay Lane Vintage pieces which sold at record prices. At the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis auction at Sotheby's in 1996, 47 of Kenneth's special pieces in her collection brought in over one million dollars.