Kieselstein-Cord
Barry Kieselstein-Cord founded his jewelry company in 1972 in New York city. He started by selling jewelry, silver jewelry, belt buckles, bronze statuary, leather goods including handbags, eyewear, home furnishings, and accessories. After graduating Parsons School of Design in combination with a program at New York University, Kieselstein-Cord entered the field of advertising. After some time he began to experiment with plastics and attempting to fashion pieces. In 1971, Kieselstein-Cord began working with sterling, however, the bulk of his early work was produced with plastic remnants left over from the 1930s and 1940s. By the end of 1971 he had given up the plastics and focused on sterling and natural materials like deer horn. This caught the attention of Bob M Lee, a big-game hunter and then owner of the Hunting World stores. The sale allowed Kieselstein-Cord him to produce his first full sterling collection in 1972. He wanted to approach the biggest silver brands and connected with Charles Dishman. Dishman in turn referred Cord to Remica Russell, the buyer for George Jensen who bought the collection. This meant Cord would have representation in Jensen's U.S. flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City. His pieces did well and he developed a following. From that year to 1975 Kieselstein-Cord started touring the country to expand his business. He established the brand in secondary cities across the United States partnering with other department type stores who could distribute his product. 1976 was a turning point for Kieselstein-Cord and his push further to develop the luxury belt buckle began to take off. Business continued to grow and that ushered in a collaboration with designer Perry Ellis which meant Kieselstein-Cord designs began to appear in runway shows. This meant other designers took notice such as Calvin Klein.
