LONDON — Shaun Leane, the British jewelry designer known for his spiky, sculptural designs and close collaborations with the late Lee Alexander McQueen, has left his eponymous brand a few months after it was placed into administration.
The designer said in a letter posted on Instagram this week that he made the “difficult decision to leave the house I founded,” but remains committed to designing jewelry.
“I was born a maker, with an overwhelming desire to create. I will continue to do so, to design and craft unique pieces from noble materials and exquisite stones, creating jewelry and objets d’art that will push boundaries and capture the times we are in. I look forward to the new ventures that await,” he wrote.
He is understood to be working on bespoke commissions, and plans to take some time off and travel before announcing new projects in early 2025. Leane did not return calls at press time.
Diamond orchid earrings by Shaun Leane.
Courtesy Photo
In the letter, Leane said the “present cost of living crisis on the back of the turbulence of COVID-19” had made it an “irreversibly difficult trading time” for his business, which went into administration in late May.
“We tried so hard, but couldn’t get out from under it,” he said, adding that his final day was Aug. 9. The company has since been purchased out of administration, but the buyer’s name could not be learned.
Leane said he wished the new team at his brand “success for the exciting journey ahead.”
Leane has had a stellar career, winning the U.K. Jewellery Designer of the Year Award four times, and serving as a judge on the reality show “All that Glitters: Britain’s Next Jewellery Star,” on BBC Two.
In 2020, the book “Shaun Leane,” by ACC Art Books, was released. It traced the background of the classically trained designer, who pushed the boundaries of his trade with thorned and curved pieces that reframe the body.
He has a long list of celebrity clients, including the Princess of Wales, who wear his signature jewelry, or the designs he created for Asprey.
In 2019 he designed Princess Beatrice’s engagement ring, a round-cut diamond at the center with tapered baguettes on each side. The diamond-studded band is made of platinum, and was designed in Leane’s signature, organic style.
Shaun Leane and Lee Alexander McQueen
Courtesy Photo
Leane made his name creating dramatic runway jewelry for McQueen in the 1990s. He would go on to build a business offering jewelry collections, bespoke commissions, and large-scale designs in the public realm.
In 2018 Leane made his architecture and public art debut with the opening of the 21 Young Street apartment building in Kensington. Leane designed the building’s exterior metalwork, a graceful maze of leaves and vines.
At the time it was the largest scale commission in the U.K. to be undertaken by a jewelry designer. His metalwork for 21 Young Street is on permanent display at the V&A Museum in London.
His past designs, including a coiled corset and a crown of thorns, also formed a significant part of the “Savage Beauty” Alexander McQueen exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
