



1 / 7 Chevron Chevron Photo: Getty Images Kenneth Jay Lane, 2007

Costume jewelry pioneer Kenneth Jay Lane has died at the age of 85. Lane designed his namesake jewelry line for more than 50 years and was a firm believer that glamour should be an attainable, everyday luxury. He never ventured into fine jewelry, but that didn’t stop socialites and celebrities from choosing his pieces over the real thing—Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, and Princess Diana were frequently photographed in Lane’s designs.

The designer was born on April 22, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in the city. He studied at the University of Michigan and the Rhode Island School of Design, and worked on the art team at Vogue shortly after graduating. Lane went on to design footwear at Delman, then trained under Roger Vivier at Christian Dior where he learned the ins and outs of accessory design and was inspired to launch his own costume jewelry collection in 1963. His path to success was swift, thanks in part to fashion editor Jo Hughes, who showed his work to Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. Simpson became an instant fan and bought several of Lane’s pieces. (Rumor has it that she was even buried in a jeweled Kenneth Jay Lane belt.) Diana Vreeland also recognized Lane’s talent and tapped him to handle the jewelry for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. His designs resonated with these high-profile women because he approached costume jewelry as if it were couture, with bold colors, dramatic silhouettes, and quality “jewels” that often looked real, despite being glass or plastic. Of course, his outgoing personality helped, too; friends of Lane will recall his charm and quick wit. He once famously said, “I am myself a fabulous fake.”

A documentary about Lane’s career, titled Fabulously Fake: The Real Life of Kenneth Jay Lane, is in the works and is expected to air early next year. If you’re eager to read more about the influential designer sooner rather than later, though, the book Kenneth Jay Lane: Faking It came out in 1996 and includes interviews with the designer about his career and friendships with celebrities, as well as more than 100 illustrations and photographs. See a few of Kenneth Jay Lane’s best pieces in Vogue, above.