Jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane dies in NY at age 85

NEW YORK – Costume jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane, whose creations caught the fancy of high society and the QVC crowd alike, has died in New York. He was 85.

The executive vice-president of Lane’s company, Chris Sheppard, says Lane died at his Manhattan home early Thursday or late Wednesday. The cause was not given.

The jetsetting designer counted many bold-faced names among his friends and customers: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo, Nancy Reagan and the princesses Margaret and Diana.

Lane once playfully called himself a “fabulous fake.” The home shopping empire QVC, which brought him broad mainstream appeal, says his “legacy will live on.”

Sheppard says a memorial will be planned for New York Fashion Week in September.