Jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane dies in NY at age 85

NEW YORK (AP) — Costume jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane, whose creations caught the fancy of high society and the QVC crowd alike, has died in New York. He was 85.

The executive vice president of Lane's company, Chris Sheppard, says Lane died at his Manhattan home early Thursday or late Wednesday. The cause was not given.

The jet-setting designer counted many bold-faced names among his friends and customers: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo, Nancy Reagan and the princesses Margaret and Diana.

Lane once playfully called himself a "fabulous fake." The home shopping empire QVC, which brought him broad mainstream appeal, says his "legacy will live on."

Sheppard says a memorial will be planned for New York Fashion Week in September.