VANITY - THY NAME LIVES ON BUTTONS!

Today I'm posting about GEMMA KAHNG – and her nifty 90's vintage VANITY LOGO BUTTONS. 

This may be one of those buttons that makes people go HMMMMMM in the future, but now YOU (my favorite FBR Friend) will know just WHO she belongs to when you spot one! 

SIGNATURE TRADEMARK 
WOMAN WEARING A BEEHIVE HAT,
SUNGLASSES AND EARRINGS
Flying Button Ranch Collection

This LARGE and heavy deluxe button features the 90s haute couture designer Gemma Kahng’s trademarked logo. Her once ubiquitous fashion logo came about when she was 35. The then fledgling fashion designer was looking to garner some brand attention… So she dreamt up the fun logo of a boxy shouldered woman wearing sunglasses, earrings and a big beehive hat. Is it a self portrait of Ms. Kahng? I honestly don't know... I've not yet been able to find any kind of quote from her that says it was. 

The now iconic logo, appears on at least two different buttons and inside on the label of her garments. It was also printed on her fabric totes, T-shirts, jewelry and other items.

Patent and Trademark Office September 25, 1990

Label found inside all of her pieces.

Shank. No back mark to indicate the designer.

The button I have, and am showing today once lived on what once was a $1,790 leather jacket designed by Kahng in the 1990s. 

Luxury Leather with BIG heavy metal buttons. Yummy!

I try to be good but fashionable buttons call to me!

Her designs had unexpected colorful accents and often incorporated large button-like trims (2 shanks) on pockets. 

Gemma obviously loved buttons! The buttons on many of Kahng’s pieces are almost as whimsical as those of Schiaparelli. It has been noted that Schiaparelli is Kahng's soulmate in fashion history. Schiaparelli created a tailored style that was classic and timeless, yet sprinkled with surprising and sometimes shocking details. Kahng's pieces gave off that same vibe, classic yet fabulously slightly askew. Who doesn't love wearing something once in a while that is noticeable and notable. Both women's surviving pieces are amazing, memorable and... COLLECTIBLE. 

Clearly Kahng’s pieces were made for the successful woman. At Bergdorf Goodman in 1991, the retail price for a Jacket with large flower jewel buttons was $785 and $220 for a slim skirt. 

1990s Gemma Kahng

Jacket with large Leopard head buttons (see close-up below)

Glass jewels set in metal buttons

Faux Tortoiseshell plastic hearts

Fabric covered buttons ala Matisse

Born in 1954 and raised in Masan, South Korea, Gemma grew up wearing clothing that her mother made for her and her sister and they learned embroidery and sewing from her.  Her father, a mechanical engineering professor, was invited to teach at a school in Michigan when Kahng was 14 and the family moved to the US. She said that because she didn’t speak English, she loved art class (since she didn’t have to try to communicate much) and it was in this class that she discovered her calling. After high school, she attended the Art Institute of Chicago and in her second year decided to focus on fashion. 

Gemma Kahng

After graduating from the Art Institute, she moved to New York City and quickly landed a job with Korean designer Cathy Hardwick as her assistant designing modern sportswear for four years. In 1984, Kahng married high end designer Charles Chang-Lima (who had his own well-respected design line, though Charles went bankrupt in 2009 following their divorce).

SUCCESS OF THE 90S:

After leaving Hardwick’s, she freelanced for a while and decided to try launching her own label in 1989. With the $35,000 that her parents had given to her as a down payment on an apartment, she took a risk and created her first collection, which debuted at the Art Institute of Chicago that same year. Thirty retailers picked up her debut line. Kahng moved into her her sister’s Salt Lake City’s home basement as her workroom to keep up with the demand. 

Cabbage Rose Buttons - lovely!

The famous BOW often topped with buttons or trims.
Ya know what they say...
BOWS before HOSE. (OKAY, I'll stop).

Whimsical fabrics featuring Gemma's animal art
and fun big buttons. 

Looks to be a polished Buffalo Horn button.

A metal button with ribbon "stitched" detailing.

Quirky, yet stylish enough for cutting edge fashionistas, her designs instantly became wildly popular.  Two years later, her success allowed her to hire staff and to move her business to Seventh Avenue in New York City. 

Sharon Stone appeared in Vogue wearing her designs. Who can forget Madonna in the infamous Vanity Fair photo shoot in 1992 where she sported an a$$-less lavender body suit made by Kahng (see Photo). Just wow... LOL

OMG Madge… 😂 LOL

In 1991, she was doing so well (reported to have been making $6 million per year) that she moved her four-person operation to 550 Seventh Avenue. Her signature jackets with large and interesting buttons, pantsuits and whimsical garments were snapped up by buyers for their chic sense of kitsch and humor. You could find Gemma Kahng in most of the high-end stores. If you shopped Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman or Bloomingdale’s for your power suits, Kahng’s designs were found on the racks with hefty price tags, hanging next to brands like Chanel and Prada.

Christy Turlington
wearing a Gemma Kahng logo T-shirt and belt 
on the cover of Vogue 1990

  

Logo belt buckle!
These ARE also back marked with her name.
(spotted on eBay). 

Back mark on buckles.
Why do designers not make cardboard belts?
Because it would be a WAIST of paper!
*runs out of the room*

Another fun Gemma Kahng buckle.
Sparkle! Oooooh. At $200 (with missing rhinestones)?
I'll pass on adding this vintage goodie
to my buckle collection for now.
(Spotted on eBay)

Marriage troubles in the early ’90s were followed by a divorce. So began a bad snowball effect for the designer... first with her taking full control of the company’s finances and most crucial, taking her finger off of the rapidly changing style pulse. Her business floundered. “The combination of fashion changing fast during that time and me being preoccupied with business troubles, I wasn’t able to be inspired. This was a dangerous thing,” she said.

During those 9 years, the once substantial orders from large retailers waned and the interest from the fashion world stopped. The all important fashion news media and magazines stopped coming to view her collections and her name became a shadow of her former brand recognition.

In 1999, Ms. Kahng gave up the 7^th Avenue studio and took up a 500-square-foot space within a costume shop that she discovered on Craigslist. She did freelance design for a Japanese company, and took out loans against her SoHo apartment to finance her living and brand expenses.  She tried venturing into the children's market and also helped design the costumes and sets for fellow Korean American Margaret Cho's acclaimed one-woman performance piece.  She said “People didn’t realize I was nearly starving and living on the edge, I had great shoes and an optimistic personality.”

The 2000s were no better for her. Her designs disappeared from stores. It was at that small space in the costume shop that she had an encounter that gave her a brief 2^nd life in fashion. While waiting outside of the shop’s restroom, she bumped into Joe Zee who told her about a new show concept called All On The Line (Sundance Channel) where he would counsel budding and failing designers. The producer invited her to participate in the first season and it aired in April 2011. On the program, Ms. Kahng shared “The older buyers who used to buy my clothes don’t have time for me anymore.”

Taking advantage of her celebrity on the show, she decided to try and rebrand, recognizing that she needed to become relevant again. After taking council from Joe Zee to lead with a more sophisticated and elegant style, a short rebirth in 2012 began with her new line. The buyers picked up the label and some money came in. Perhaps her fashion followers missed the quirky twists and funky touches her fashion used to have, and sales were slow. Sadly, the "come back" didn’t last but a few years, and soon she decided to leave the fashion business behind her. 

The only racks filled with the once thriving brand are now found in the closets of fashion collectors and in vintage and resale shops. Today you can still find evidence of Kahng’s glory days in the pre-worn remains of power suits, pantsuits, jackets with squared off shoulders and tweed on 2^nd hand sites like eBay, Etsy and Poshmark. 

Gemma Kahng’s departure from fashion returned her to her original passion for art. She founded an art gallery in Hudson Valley in 2019 called the Beekman Arts Club. Today, Gemma lives and paints in Hopewell Junction. Her interest and subjects are birds and other animals which she describes as featuring the ‘fashion in nature’ of the beauty found in different species. I took a peek at her Facebook page, and gallery website… honestly, it’s all quite sad. Big pictures of birds in hats or wearing big pink dresses (at $3,000 no less)? Ooooh sweetie, please come back to painting a beautiful picture with your fun fashion designs and BUTTONS! 

So just WHAT is considered a Designer VANITY BUTTON? 

According to the NATIONAL BUTTON SOCIETY'S Classification Book, Vanity Buttons are buttons with a name, initial or logo of an individual, company, noted personality or retail store. They are listed under Section 25 - Usage - Class 25-3 DESIGNER (Vanity). Here are a few (from my collection or Pinterest as noted):

CARTIER
Gilt plated metal (via Pinterest)

FERRAGAMO
Plastic with their iconic shoes.
Can be found in metal and several logos.

LANVIN
Unless you know the logo, would you know the buttons
if they just appeared in a poke box?
Study those designer logos for bargains! (via Pinterest)

MARC JACOBS
An extra-large deluxe under lens cat button by Marc Jacobs featuring Rue the Cat c 2013.
Designed for him by artist Tabboo (and signed at the bottom).
Super rare. Yup in my collection.
(and if you must have one, contact me on my Facebook page!
I actually have a few duplicates!).

RALPH LAUREN
Natural Buffalo Horn with Metal logo escutcheon.

SERGIO VALENTE
Leather with logo and initials (1970-90s)

My tray of Designer buttons
that I entered in 2020
(I pushed it with a Monique Ogier button and
*buzzer noise*
I was given a "Measle" and disqualified.
The NBS definition doesn't define Designer and
frankly is poorly defined for competition... sooooo
I push when frustrated. LOL Rebel without much of a clue.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Arizona State Button Society).

My Gemma Kahng logo button is not back marked, so as far as I know, none of her Buttons will be.

Really ONLY THOSE WITH HER LOGO (or with a back mark, if they exist) will be seriously considered a Vanity button connected to Gemma Kahng. When you think about it, fashion buttons weren't generally made just for just one designer unless it was their brand logo or had their name on the back! Some of these large non-logo buttons used by Kahng were probably sold to other fashion houses (especially after the designer went out of business and left fashion). Logo buttons are expensive for designers... When it comes to trimmings, fashion designers may not be conservative, but they are rather CLOTHES minded. *evil pun grin* 

The only other version of her logo buttons that I've seen.

Another version of her logo button.
It looks to be most likely a cold plastic enamel
decorative finish on metal.
I wonder if this one has a back mark!?
If I find one, I'll update here.

Even though her early old(er) style pieces are still fairly expensive (a Kahng jacket with ho-hum buttons can run $100 to $500+), bargains can be had! Keep an eye peeled for resale shop bargains on-line and local vintage shops in your area. Stained/damaged jackets or those missing a button (or two) will usually be a good deal and you never know when you'll run across a single button deal (like I did!) on eBay or Etsy. The seller didn't have a clue that it was a designer button!

Here’s to hoping that her buttons are eventually going to find their way into button collections and on re-purposed jewelry creations (and hey... be creative, but leave the shanks alone and intact!). While not all of her buttons will be considered collectible or a Designer/Vanity button, they'll be fun to identify as used by Kahng for future collectors. Learn about them and buy them while you can! I am!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching this fun button and Gemma Kahng's history in fashion! Feel free to leave me a comment here AND/OR VISIT MY  FLYING BUTTON RANCH FACEBOOK PAGE to comment. For more fun button history posts, give my Facebook FBR page a follow! <3 FBR

P.S. Many of the fashion photos were taken from internet Google searches and were sold items or may be a current photo of an item for sale. If they belong to you, I'm happy to either give you credit or remove them. Just let me know! I hope you'll let them live here for button and fashion education!

Be STILT my heart! 

Wearing a typical French Beret hat, white Coat of Sheep Skin with white fur,
red shirt, blue pants and carrying a pole/staff,  and walking on green ground.

This set of 8 ENAMEL buttons came to me recently from FRANCE. The buttons have an unusual pictorial, in that they feature a man on STILTS. At first I wondered if it was depicting circus folk BUT the work cap, clothing, bag and POLE told me that wasn’t going to be right. Of course, I got curious and went FULL STILT in searching for answers for this odd pictorial, first using the country I purchased them from (France) in the search terms.

Back view of the buttons

Champlevé is an enameling technique in which depressions or
cells in metal are carved, etched, die struck, or cast into the
surface of a metal object, and filled with vitreous enamel.

Normally, a button with a person on stilts would be considered a form of a pastime/game/circus/sport. After you read this, you’ll see why these buttons will be a great and odd representation of a form of FRENCH TRANSPORTATION in my button collection! 

In the mysterious case of this button set, the pictorial recorded on them shows that the stilt was everyday wear for one group of people up to the early 20^th Century… The people of LANDES, FRANCE and possibly one famous Shepherd.

Illustration c. 1804.  Note the dress is very similar to the enamel buttons!

Stilts are poles, posts or pillars used to allow a person or structure to stand at a height above the ground. Stilts for walking are poles equipped with platforms for the feet to stand on and may have straps to attach them to the users’ legs or be held in place when walking by the hands of the user by gripping the top of the pole.

STILT HISTORY - Walking on stilts can be dated back to the 6th century BC in ancient Greece. A Chinese folk legend from 722-481 BC tells of a foreign ambassador called Yan Ying who was so short the officials of the kingdom he visited laughed at him. He tied two stilts on his feet to make himself appear taller than normal and then commanded respect. Some cultures were known to use stilts to fish, hunt game birds in marshes or to harvest crops grown on trees. 

LANDES, FRANCE - The French word, landes means moors or heaths. At one time, walking on stilts was a necessary means of transportation to adapt to the land which was covered with stunted bushes and dry heath. A heath is a shrub land habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterized by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths. On account of the permeability of the subsoil, all the slopes were transformed into marshes after the slightest rain fall.

The inhabitants of these marshy or flooded areas used stilts for practical purposes. According to the Scientific American Supplement, No. 821, Sep. 26, 1891, this Southern area of France was described as an extremely poor region inhabited mostly by Shepherds (called a Berger in French) who relied on raising sheep. Mounted upon their stilts and usually wearing a distinctive sheepskin vest of the region, the shepherds of Landes drove their flocks across the wastes. They were easily able to go through bushes, pools of water, and marshes as they were without roads or footpaths. They walked on stilts everywhere! Apparently this system of locomotion was so effective that men on stilts could keep up with horses at full trot.

Typical dress of the Bergers of Landes

The stilts are called echasses in French (or locally referred to as tchangues, or “big or long legs”). They are constructed of wood and stand about five feet high with wide straps to support the feet. The lowest part of the stilt on the ground was widened and made sturdy with sheep’s bone, acting like small hooves. 

The height allowed Shepherds not only to travel the unstable ground with and to watch over their flocks, but added an extended field of vision to watch for predators. They would also carry a staff/pole for extra support. The pole also aided in getting onto the stilts, acted as a way to carry other items by tying a bundle to the pole (like shown on the button!), and was used a crook or staff to guide their sheep. 

The staff was also vital to provide a comfortable seat which adapted to the height of the stilts. Resting in this manner, the shepherd appeared to be sitting on a huge tripod.

Taking sitting and spinning to a new level. LOL!

Shepherds weren’t the only ones to possess this skill. The men, women, and children were all talented stilt-walkers and all were trained at a young age to use them since this was the only way to travel the area. Most of the people there lived a large portion of their lives at a lofty height. Some even worked on knitting and performed other daily tasks while perched on them. These people became proficient at performing amazing feats of balance and dexterity. Women, for example, could pick flowers from the ground and children played, running at high speeds. Mail service was accomplished on stilts and carriers even delivered parcels on them.

Very special delivery!

DRAINING THE SWAMP - In the late 19th century the introduction of drainage systems and large forestry planting projects came to the region. The artificial forest was built to drain the Landes (pine trees require 200 liters of water a day) is almost entirely created and managed by man for industrial purposes. Stilt walking and raising sheep started to die out with the land improvements. While the people of this region no longer go around on stilts, it is amazing to know that at one time, there was once a community where everyone was always elevated from the ground.

A FAMOUS FELLOW on the button? 

It’s highly possible that this button could also be depicting the famous SYLVAIN DORNON of Landes, who became famous when he climbed to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower on his stilts during the World Fair of 1889. 

He also accomplished the amazing feat of walking on stilts from Paris to Moscow. His goal was to attend the Franco-Prussian Exhibition of 1891, which was held in Moscow. He arrived in just 58 days. He wanted the world to know about the people of Landes and the decline of stilt walking due to the disappearing lands.

Sylvain Dornon arriving in Moscow - 1891

I haven’t seen this button in a book (yet), so this I guess I’ll just give it a name. For now, this button will be labeled on my card as THE LANDES STILT WALKER/SYLVAIN DORNON or maybe I’ll just call it LIVING HIGH ON THE BOG. LOL 

Okay! I’ll stop... for now. *grin*

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<3 Enjoy your weekend! <3 

aka FBR

 #AntiqueButtons #EnamelButtons #Stilts #LandesFrance #FlyingButtonRanch