Fred Leighton is an American antique
jewelry
Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
business based on
Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The business is also known for lending jewelry to celebrities.
History
The business was founded by Murray Mondschein
when he bought a Mexican arts and crafts store in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
called Fred Leighton in 1959.
[ Mondschein added wedding dresses and Georgian, ]Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
, and Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
jewelry to the inventory. In the 1970s, he moved the store to the Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...
, occupying several locations before landing at 773 Madison Avenue in 1986. That year, he legally changed his name to Fred Leighton.[
Leighton began lending jewelry to celebrities in 1996 when client ]Miuccia Prada
Miuccia Bianchi Prada (; born Maria Bianchi on 10 May 1949) is an Italian billionaire fashion designer and businesswoman. She is the head designer of Prada and the founder of its subsidiary Miu Miu. As of October 2021, ''Forbes'' estimated her n ...
borrowed a necklace for Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...
to wear to the Oscars
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...
. Since then, celebrities have continued to wear Fred Leighton for events including the Golden Globe Awards
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...
and the Met Gala
The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, is the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. The Met Gala was and still is popularly rega ...
. The company's jewels have also been used in films including ''Marie Antoinette'' (2006), ''The Devil Wears Prada'', and the ''Sex and the City'' series
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered sets used i ...
and film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
.
In 2005, Leighton sold the company to Ralph Esmerian. Under Esmerian's ownership, the company filed bankruptcy in 2008, and in 2010, Esmerian was charged with bankruptcy fraud, wire fraud, and concealing assets. He was sentenced to six years in federal prison and fined $20 million.
In 2009, Fred Leighton’s assets, including its inventory and retail stores in New York and Las Vegas, were acquired by Kwiat Enterprises, LLC together with Och-Ziff Capital Management Group
Sculptor Capital Management (formerly ''Och-Ziff Capital Management Group'') is an American global diversified alternative asset management firm. They are one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world.
The company oper ...
and FOF Inventory Holding, in a $25.8 million bankruptcy court deal. Founded by Sam Kwiat in 1907, Kwiat is an American jeweler based in New York City and remains privately held by the Kwiat family.
See also
* Kwiat jewelry
References
{{reflist
Jewelry retailers of the United States
1959 establishments in New York City
External links
Official website