Object D'art

(No Time Soon)

In the decade when Andy Warhol’s Factory was the avant-garde hangout for New York’s intellectuals, drag queens and bohemian street kids, Barry Kieselstein-Cord was a young photographer and art director making waves in the world of advertising. As a creator of provocative and forward-thinking advertising campaigns, Kieselstein-Cord was soon drawn into Warhol’s orbit, capturing the attention of the 1960s’ most disruptive and revolutionary art scene. “I had dinners with Warhol,” says Kieselstein-Cord, “and hung out in places where avant-garde artists supped, drank, and exchanged ideas: Max’s, 1 Fifth Avenue, and early Mr. Chow’s.” Trained at the Parsons School of Design and The American Craft Institute, the young art director would discuss photographic techniques with the legendary New York Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whose admiration for Kieselstein-Cord’s work stands as proof of his talent. When his images were published in Warhol’s ground-breaking Interview Magazine, that innovative work foreshadowed the coming age of expansive instillations and digital art. 

This pioneering artistic mindset was central to Kieselstein-Cord’s creative vision when he established his award-winning luxury house in 1972. The designer became the only photographer for the brand’s distinctive advertising campaigns, elaborating on the whimsical natural themes that characterised his intricate jewellery and ultra-luxe accessories. Exploring the concept of jewellery as art, iconic motifs and fauna-inspired embellishments transformed his work into wearable masterpieces. Today, many of the brand’s heritage pieces are prized by art collectors or venerated as permanent exhibits at prestigious museums including the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. In 2011, Kieselstein-Cord published, Awarded, a comprehensive retrospective of his photographic work spanning a four-decade career. Esoteric landscapes of New York’s Hudson Valley communicate the artist-designer’s longstanding love of nature and the land, a theme which recurs throughout his idiosyncratic collections of jewellery and accessories.

Launched in 1997, the Kieselstein-Cord eyewear collection fused that evocative imagery with superior materials, using the latest innovations in optical technology to create classically beautiful frames. Originating from a nineties collection, No Time Soon is a vintage rarity that approaches Kieselstein-Cord’s signature themes with a modern sense of playfulness. The sleekly rectangular and rimless frame is visually distinctive, evoking the eyewear choices of the new decade’s foremost fashion influencers. Characterised by a warm and tonally resonant colourway of Mahogany Fade and Brushed Golden Brown, the slimline acetate temples are enhanced by flawlessly finished metal details on the end pieces and bridge. Kieselstein-Cord’s trademark Alligator motif appears as an intricate metal embellishment that wraps the temples. Including the original sun lenses, but fully adaptable for RX requirements, this mint-condition sunglass is a beautiful example of Kieselstein-Cord’s deeply personal creative vision. 

From the outset of his career, Kieselstein-Cord has approached his work with the relentless curiosity of a photographer. It’s an inquisitive outlook that has shaped his ideas across five decades as a designer, imbuing each collection with a signature inventiveness. This singular creative vision is what makes Kieselstein-Cord’s heritage pieces collectors’ items today.