COLLATERAL EXHIBITION – 26TH EDITION
This is the portrait of Kenneth Jay Lane (1932 – 2017) famous American custom jewellery designer, the protagonist of the second collateral show, Brilliant Illusions: a homage to Kenneth Jay Lane. The King of ‘Fakes’ curated by Maria Teresa Cannizzaro, collector , American bijoux scholar and President of the Passato e Futuro cultural association – Italian section of the Vintage Fashion & Costume Jewelry Club and Fiorella Operto, costume historian, vice-president and passionate collector.
The exhibition celebrates also the Italian know-how that contributed a great deal to what Lane himself called “the beautification of America”. “Italy, a country that I love and visit often and from whose exceptional museums I draw great inspiration”, the custom jewellery designer used to say.
In fact, he appreciated not just Italian culture and art, but the sophisticated craftsmanship of the artisans who, immigrated from the end of 1800 to Providence (where Kenneth graduated from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design), livened up the flourishing custom jewellery factories that supplied Hollywood productions.
Today, his more affordable creations, those less expensive yet elegant and tasteful, have gained a growing popularity. So much so that his first custom jewels, such as those designed for Jacqueline Kennedy from 1962 onward, were actioned at prestigious sites at prices not distant from those of real jewels, as an increasingly wide audience in various continents has started to collect them.
In the year of Parma Capital of Culture, Mercanteinfiera wants to pay homage to one of the most cultivated and eclectic creators of custom jewels by putting on display a sizeable selection of his creations. He used to love to define himself essentially as a…trader, capable of making women of every social status feel like Cinderella going to the Prince’s Ball.
