She’s our industry’s best-dressed jeweler. And if you follow her fashion adventures on Instagram, you are well aware that Lauren Kulchinsky Levison has long been a magnet for street style photographers seeking unique, fashion-as-art-form looks worn with the perfect amount of hauteur, effortlessness, girlish charm, and originality.
Certainly as chief style officer and curator for her fourth-generation family-owned and operated jewelry store, Mayfair Rocks in East Hampton, N.Y., Levison is an influential force in the jewelry world. But the fashion cognoscenti recognize her as a perennial presence at Fashion Weeks near and far, one who regularly lands on lists and blogs devoted to the best-dressed. Rochas, Erdem, Alberta Ferretti, Rodarte, Wes Gordon for Carolina Herrera, Emilia Wickstead, and Celine are just a few of the marquee designers and labels that enjoy pride of place in her closet.
While Levison’s passionate about the most new-and-now voices in fine jewelry—Kristen Farrell, Emily P. Wheeler, W. Rosado, Melissa Kaye, Vak, and so many more—it was really only a matter of time before she dipped a toe into fashion design. Opportunity came knocking during the COVID-19 lockdown: A message from Kobi Halperin showed up in her Instagram DMs. He liked her style.
“He was a fashion designer I had heard of but never met,” says Levison. “He was telling me how [my Instagram feed] had been inspirational to him through the quarantine period of COVID-19, how I was dressing at home—I wasn’t in sweatpants—and he would love to talk to me about being his muse for a capsule collection.”
Levison soon learned that Halperin is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and that his eponymous line is sold at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and other prestigious retailers. He was also recently named head designer for the heritage fashion brand Ungaro.
And what did he have in mind for a collaboration? Blouses. Beautiful, voluminous, richly detailed ones. And Levison was delighted to lend her point of view.
“Our blouse capsule throws itself back to the idea of the party top,” she says. “When you’re sitting at a dining room table, no one sees what’s on the bottom—it’s always from the waist up. The same with Zoom calls. So you need a beautiful sleeve or a puffed shoulder or a high neck and some beautiful jewelry. To me, there’s no reason why you can’t have a great high neck and some brooches and necklaces on at the same time. Look at the Victorian era—the look was always layered-up.”
Sold under the label KH x LL, the blouses will be available in September. Kirna Zabête, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and select Mitchells boutiques are already enchanted. And on Aug. 20, the blouses will make their formal debut during a live fashion show at the Collaborating for a Cure Ladies Luncheon, an annual event benefiting the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation in Southampton, N.Y.
“There’s definitely a blouse here for everyone—there’s an Audrey Hepburn, a Katharine Hepburn, the rock ’n’ roll hippie chick, the caftan wearer,” says Levison.
Altogether, the collection is informed by sumptuous Italian fabrics in rich, seasonless colors, with pin-tucking, embroidery, handmade lace, and bows—all details that nod to Levison’s signature style. The finishing special touch: Halperin captured her love and knowledge of jewelry by designing an embossed metal paillette in lieu of a traditional inside label for each garment.
“As a 50-year-old, I also love that this collection feels made for me and my lifestyle,” says Levison. “Not too hippie and not too buttoned-up. The blouses are about practical, modest dressing—volume, lace, and ruffles—and the designs are totally based on the necklines I love and how I dress,” says Levison. “If there’s texture and volume and room for accessories, I wear it. That’s what’s important to me.”
Levison styled the KH x LL look book (select images highlighted here) all on her own, using pieces from her wardrobe and whatever jewelry she had on hand. “Our pandemic photo shoot was hysterical,” she says. “I had to shave my head because my short hairstyle was growing out. And I had no jewelry in the house!”
Fortunately, she was able to borrow a handful of designer pieces and diamond jewels from Mayfair Rocks at the last minute and had them shipped to her home in Connecticut. The photographer was Halperin himself. “We did the work of a full set of people, transforming my kitchen into a set with Laura Ashley fabrics, and I think we used all of the china I own. Six hours of work. We did it all and it was a true collaboration, down to the anemone bouquets Kobi brought over. I am so grateful—he is my muse as much as I am his.”
Top: Quin lace blouse, $695, worn with Taurus ring by Kristen Farrell Jewelry, gold heart ring by Jessica McCormack, and diamond pieces from Mayfair Rocks. All blouses available at select retailers starting in September. (All photos courtesy of KH x LL)
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