Six Six Sick: The Designer's Designer

Three pleated-rings from the Kiel Mead for Mischen jewelry collection.

While the rest of the girls at Fiftytwo Showroom are frolicking at the Thompson Beverly Hills in sunny Los Angeles for Market (it's always Fashion Week somewhere in the world), I'm sadly still stuck in New York. Luckily, there are plenty of things going on to keep me occupied, and I'm particularly excited about how well people are responding to the work of one of the jewelry designers I represent, Kiel Mead.

Kiel is no ordinary designer. In addition to crafting a diverse range of jewelry for both men and women, he also works as a furniture designer, curates and creates installations (including the one in our showroom for Market Week), and is a founding member of the American Design Club. It's no wonder that other designers like Carla Knapp from Mischen, and John Barlett have asked him to accessorize their fashion shows, and T Magazine recently dubbed Kiel a "Wunderkid."

As diverse as his work is, Kiel's designs always maintain a hint of nostalgia, usually infused with a sense of humor. Whether it is a piece of chewing gum cast in silver and worn as a necklace, or a sweet Forget Me Knot string cast in gold and tied around your finger as a reminder of a lover's promise, his pieces often strike a chord with our collective memories of adolescence. Even the arrow-pierced coat rack he designed based on Saint Sebastian's stake is rooted in his Roman Catholic upbringing. His incredible range of work has given Kiel a very diverse stocklist, which currently includes Steven Alan, Odin, In God We Trust, The Future Perfect and the MoMA design store. I look forward to seeing Kiel continue his bid at world domination via design, and I can't wait to see what he's up to next...