Cadoro, or Cadoro Jewels Corporation, was a

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

-based jewelry company founded in 1954 by Steven Brody and Daniel Stoenescu (aka Staneskieu), specialising in fashionable costume jewelry sold via department stores such as

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compan ...

and

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washing ...

. The company closed in 1987 following Brody's retirement as president.

Company history

Steven Stuart Brody (1919 or 1926, Philadelphia – 23 December 1994) initially studied business administration at Wharton School, Pennsylvania, then attended the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. ...

. After a stint as an actor in radio soap operas, he went to Paris, where he met Daniel Stoenescu (1921-after 1970), son of the Romanian artist

Eustațiu Stoenescu Eustațiu Stoenescu (Craiova, 1884-New York City, 1957) was a Romanian painter principally known for his portraiture. Eustatiu Stoenescu family originated from Oltenia in Romania. His father was a senator and his mother Mathilda was born in Brittany ...

, and nephew of Princess Ghika, who proposed they go into jewelry design together. Cadoro, which was launched on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 populatio ...

, became known for inventive jewelry which used chenille and plastics alongside more traditional crystals, brushed gold, and enamel for designs which were bought by the likes of

the Duchess of Windsor Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...

and

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

. In 1969, Cadoro also designed body jewellery in the form of filigree bras and breastplates for wearing with trendy

see-through clothing See-through clothing is any garment of clothing made with lace, mesh or sheer fabric that allows the wearer's body or undergarments to be seen through its fabric. See-through fabrics were fashionable in Europe in the eighteenth century. There was ...

to enable followers of fashion to preserve their modesty. Cadoro's metal "breastplates" were inspired by a statue of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

found at Pompeii. The following year in 1970 Brody and Stoenescu were two of a group of costume jewelry designers awarded special

Coty Awards The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards (awarded 1943–1984) were created in 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company Coty, Inc. to promote and celebrate American fashion, and encourage design during the Second World War. In 1985, the Coty A ...

, alongside

Alexis Kirk Alexis Kirk (29 December 1936 – 17 May 2010) was an American jewelry designer who also designed clothing and fashion accessories. Early life Kirk, although born in Los Angeles, and brought up in New England, self-identified as Armenian. H ...

Marty Ruza Marty Ruza of "Ruza Creations"/"Elegant Belts" was an American designer of leather fashion accessories who won a Coty Award for jewelry design in 1970. He was described by the fashion journalist Eleanor Lambert as the "leader of the fringed leathe ...

, Cliff Nicholson and the first black recipient of a Coty, Bill Smith. Cadoro designs for that year were Indian-themed, following on from an African and

Pre-Columbian art Pre-Columbian art refers to the visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North, Central, and South Americas from at least 13,000 BCE to the European conquests starting in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Pre-Columbian er ...

-inspired collection in polished wood and carved gold and silver. Examples of Cadoro jewelry are held by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

. Brody became president of the company in 1960, and when he retired in 1987, the company also closed down. He died at the

Beth Israel Medical Center Mount Sinai Beth Israel is a 799-bed teaching hospital in Manhattan. It is part of the Mount Sinai Health System, a nonprofit health system formed in September 2013 by the merger of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center, an ...

on December 23, 1994, of pneumonia following a long illness.

References

{{Authority control Design companies established in 1954 Design companies disestablished in 1987 American jewelry designers Jewelry companies of the United States 1954 establishments in New York City 1987 disestablishments in New York (state)