Jameel Mohammed Wins the First-ever Tiffany & Co and CFDA Jewelry Designer Award

From watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s in his boarding school dorm room during senior year to being named the inaugural recipient of the luxury titan’s Jewelry Design Award, Jameel Mohammed (founder and director of Khiry) was on cloud nine on Fifth Avenue on Wednesday evening.

Tiffany & Co. and the Council of Fashion Designers of America had recently put their heads together in a bid to shine a light on emerging talent and ones to watch who are committed to driving inclusivity within the design industry. The result was a program that saw ten participants from across the country—selected by a committee made up of leaders Bethann Hardison, Joan Smalls, Jason Wu, Jahleel Weaver, Frank Everett, Nathalie Verdeille, and Rajni Jacques—given a rare and precious opportunity.

Over the course of several months, the talented ten were put through their paces with lecturing series and mentoring sessions with the Tiffany & Co. design team, swatting up on how to execute visual merchandising and branding at the highest level. There were also tours of The Landmark—the famed Fifth Avenue flagship, where Wednesday’s celebrations were taking place—and a chance to get behind the curtain and peek in on the House’s Jewelry Design and Innovation Workshop.

“To see what it really takes to bring someone from the window through to the in-store experience, or the online store, and make sure that they actually have a unified and beautiful experience throughout, seeing all the people at the company who were doing that on a day-to-day basis and talking with them, that was all such invaluable advice and expertise,” Mohammed told Vogue, moments after being announced as the winner.

Mohammed, a former CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist, is no stranger to the industry—or the long slog it takes to succeed. A decade ago, while still studying Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, he launched his thought-provoking afro-futurist brand Khiry. Everyone from Michelle Obama and Meg Thee Stallion to Solange, SZA, Halle Berry, and Julianne Moore, among hundreds of other notable names, have since been spotted in his pieces. A true grafter, he’s also held a dizzying amount of freelance positions as a jewelry design consultant at major brands, all while continuing to grow Khiry. As part of his prize, which was based on a final presentation collection, he will now receive $50,000 and a one-year paid fellowship within Tiffany & Co.’s design department.