…………..From the very moment I started the……ANNE KLEIN COUTURE JEWELRY COLLECTION……It was an instant success……This new division created apart from an already existing Anne Klein jewelry line, and was born from my need to show jewelry on the runway with my collection. Previously, the licensee was only making inexpensive jewelry, and the majority of it had LION LOGOS all over it. I was using other jewelry designers creations….mostly from Robert Lee Morris’s stable of incredible designers at ART WEAR to show with my collections. My Licensee, SWANK, wanted to know why I wasn’t using their products in my shows. I frankly told them they weren’t producing the quality of jewelry I needed to show with my clothes……So they chose another person at their company to head up the AK Jewelry division, a young man named Matt Moehle….He was very young, and honestly I had little hope he would do much better. I really had no idea of the capabilities their factories could produce, because up until this point they were making inexpensive jewelry I never would have shown on my collection….We had our first meeting, and I have to say I was not easy on him, because I was so frustrated with the product they were producing…He was very very young and looked a boy….I showed him what I was working on for my next Spring collection. I gave him lots of sketches, and he said he understood…..I sent him on his way back to R.I….not expecting much to come out of this meeting…..At that time all of the jewelry was produced in the US…….After a short while Matt called me and asked if he could come and show me what he had done so far….I said yes…..When he arrived he unpacked his versions of the sketches I had given to him…….I WAS AMAZED!…….It was truly beautiful!….I said to him, “why hasn’t the jewelry looked like this before?”….and he proudly said…with a Cheshire grin, “because I wasn’t in charge”. I soon learned that Matt had a wonderful dry sense of humor similar to mine!….This was the start of a wonderful collaboration that lasted for many years until I left AK….In one season he had turned the whole collection around!…..He was a brilliant young man who I had the highest regard and respect for. He had guts to stand up to me and prove he was more than worthy of his new position…..I grew to become very fond of Matt…Matt and I created this new division, the “ANNE KLEIN COUTURE JEWELRY” line from nothing…..We created beautiful jewelry together…..It was a huge hit with retailors and CUSTOMERS, and soon grew to become a multi million dollar division……..The photo inset was from a Neiman Marcus Spring 1992 Catalogue of three of the many pieces that were designed to go with this collection. Considering this was 32 years ago, the prices were quite high for “Fashion Jewelry ” at that time……Each color of the resin stones was custom made, and each shape was custom made from special molds….each pearl was custom made along with the small stones….The metal part of the pieces were also all caste and then plated in REAL GOLD……Finally, I had AK jewelry I could show on the runway…..Matt was a savior, and I have the utmost respect for him. He is now the head designer for another company and he oversees many divisions, all of which are made in China. It is so unfortunate that most Fashion jewelry is now made overseas due to high pricing in this country which has forced most factories to close…..When I met Matt he had a very young son…..Soon another boy would follow….They are grown men now….I often think of Matt and his family fondly…..I wish him only the very very best!
