Form Fitters by Katie Kameen. Future Classic by Jennifer Altmann

A child’s toy becomes a ring. With that simple premise, Katie Kameen achieves a great deal. She starts with found plastics, in this case a vintage toy called Form Fitter. It’s a plastic box with cutouts of triangles, hexagons, stars and other shapes that comes with more than a dozen plastic pieces. A preschooler fits the pieces into the matching cutout shapes on the box. Kameen has transformed the toy pieces into rings by combining them with other found plastic items - hair curlers, highlighters and plates. 

Kameen’s choice of material conveys her meaning: Our society produces too much waste. Reusing discarded items gives them a second life. Her message is communicated not with dour seriousness but with humor and fun. She selects plastics in bright, primary colors that remind us of the playfulness of childhood. Her work elevates everyday objects into covetable jewelry.




Why Future Classics?
Our aim is not to define academic criteria or impose any form of conservatism, but to collect subjective perspectives that help us understand the values and expectations shaping our field, without reducing them to fixed rules or hierarchies.
By sharing these voices, we invite you to think together and open a conversation about durability, relevance, and the ways particular works contain certain patterns or enigmas that make them continue to speak over time.
 

About the author

Jennifer Altmann is a freelance journalist who writes about jewelry. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Style section, The Washington Post, Art Jewelry Forum, and many other publications. Connect with her at jenniferaltmann.com