ANNE KLEIN Gold-Plated Black Enamel & CZ Diamanté Bib Necklace and Matching Stud Hoop Earrings (for sale Pierced Ears Only), Vintage 1980s

AWAY FOR TWO DAYS - Please note that I will be away at a conference for a couple of days, and therefore your purchase will not be posted off until Wednesday Morning, 2nd November 2022.

Here is a truly fabulous chunky snake chain bib necklace in the typical bold gold 1980s style, featuring a beautiful centre section of black enamel, sparkling with Cubic Zirconia Pavé crystal diamanté stones. There is a matching pair of earrings that have a similar motif with black enamel and CZ crystal pavé diamanté. The condition of this beautiful matching set is very good indeed - it hardly seems to have been worn much at all. The earrings are still on their logo card with the Anne Klein lion head logo and name. The card also states that the stones are Cubic Zirconia stones.

The necklace measures 41.5cms in length (16 3/8") and the central black enamelled motif is 3.5cms wide x 2.5cms long (1 3/8" x 1") and has a chunky flat snake chain with a hinged clasp. There sale are no adjustable length options on this as it's a typical 1980s chunky collar necklace, but it's a standard average length for necklaces in general.
The matching stud earrings measure 2.7cms wide x 3cms long (just over 1" wide x1 3/16" long) and are a hoop style design with straight stud bars and a lever back that clicks down over the stud behind your ear.

Wear this with a beautiful simple plain party dress in dark red or black, or with more casual outfits to jazz them up a bit - try it with any rich colour really. This may be neutral black and gold, but it's quite a fancy 1980s design, so it will dress any black outfit up to be a bit more special.

If you like this set, you may well be interested to read the short history of the Anne Klein company as it's very interesting and reveals the distinct possibility that this is indeed a top-notch designer matching set, and not necessarily who you think !!

ANNE KLEIN
Klein was born as Hannah Golofski to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York on August 3, 1923. She studied art at Girls' Commercial High School in Brooklyn and later went to the Traphagen School of Design in New York City from 1937 to 1938 to study fashion. She married her first husband, Ben Klein, in the early 1940s, and together they founded Junior Sophisticates. The company revolutionized the junior market, doing away with the traditional "little-girl" clothing that featured button-and-bow detailing, and addressing the primary need of this important group—the desire to look more stylish, more polished, and, above all, more grown up.

The Anne Klein label was established in 1968 as a partnership with famed fashion guru Gunther Oppenheim. In 1971, Klein met Tomio Taki from Takihyo who approached her to enter a joint-venture to manufacture in the Far East with materials bought in Europe for sale in the US and Japan. The joint-venture never materialized as the margins were too thin; however, Klein approached Taki to partner in the company and by 1973 Takihyo owned 25% of the Anne Klein company.

In 1974 tragedy struck and Anne Klein died of breast cancer, leaving her equity position in the hands of her second husband, Chip Rubenstein. There was great contention among Taki, Oppenheim, and Rubenstein regarding Anne's successor. Taki wanted to elevate the assistant designer, but Oppenheim and Rubenstein wanted a name-brand designer to take the helm. At the time, Taki had the largest individual stake in the company so his equity position allowed him to promote the assistant - none other than the now famous designer Donna Karan, who a decade later became a household name. In a matter of a few years after Anne's death with Donna Karan leading the design-room, Takihyo purchased all of Rubenstein's position.

The success of the Anne Klein brand led to the development of the first bridge-line in American fashion, Anne Klein II. A line with a price point just under designer-label fashion yet still much better quality than better, moderate, and budget lines while maintaining a similar look. We would call this a 'Diffusion Line' today.
Anne Klein, and then Anne Klein II were continued after her death by Donna Karan and Louis Dell'Ollio as head designers until 1985. Taki and his partner Frank Mori at Takihyo then fired Donna on a Friday in order to rehire her the next Monday to begin a new partnership that became the highly successful Donna Karan New York line, followed by its diffusion line, DKNY.

In 2001, fashion designer Charles Nolan was hired to revive Anne Klein's image as a hipper, more fashion-forward brand. The next year, 2002, Charles Nolan quit to work on Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

Anne Klein and Co is currently owned by Jones Apparel Group, who acquired then-parent company Kasper in 2003. Watches and jewellery are sold under this brand in many big-name department stores all over the US.