I
KING OF THE
FABULOUS FAKES
KENNETH JAY LANE HAS COME
A LONG WAY FROM HIS MIDDLE CLASS
JEWISH BACKGROUND - TO HEAD HIS
OWN COSTUME JEWELRY COMPANY
AND SHOPS.
BY MAIDA PORTNOY
50
IN STYLE
t's lunchtime on a
furnace-hot summer
Monday in New York. If
he takes the time, lunch
for costume jewelry designer
Kenneth Jay Lane means
Mortimer's where lineage counts
more for table requests than
time of arrival. More than just a
place to satisfy your hunger, it's
sort of a club for Lane and the
other names one reads about in
Women's Wear Daily.
Seated at a coveted table
near the front door, Lane sips a
glass of Lillet and smokes one
of his ever-present cigarettes,
coughing intermittently. He
converses with luncheon
companions, never missing a
beat when it comes to greeting
friends and customers. In
Lane's case, the words 'friends'
and 'customers' are often
interchangeable.
Patrons with surnames like
Burden, Phipps, Boulandris and
Guest acknowledge "Kenny"
with a warm hello or the
continental both cheeks kiss.
Conspicuous by their absence,
the majority of regulars are off
vacationing at summer
residences. Lane himself is
usually in Bodrum, Turkey this
time of year with his friends, the
Ahmet Erteguns. Most days
they lunch aboard the New York
financier's boat and their group
of cronies share, as Lane
describes it, "lots of giggles."
But business has kept the
55-year-old designer at home.
Business and a projected 1987
gross of $25 million. Just when
it seems he could taper his
work schedule a bit, he works
harder than ever. His jewelry,
with an inventory of over 4,000
designs, is sold throughout the
world in specialty and
Simulated coral and
diamond necklace and
earrings are based on a
design created especially for
Jackie Onassis.