[1][2] His father, Paul Kirk, was an artist for Walt Disney, and his grandfather, Charles Vemyan, worked as a glass craftsman for René Lalique.

[1] Alexis Kirk's first design, which he personally wore, was a collar of Islamic glass beads and assorted charms, typical of his early work which featured amulets and symbols drawn from cultures and religions around the world, including the hamsa, Indian Paisley motifs, and Chinese fish.

[3] This led to a contract to design a budget-priced line of jewelry for the Hattie Carnegie company, which was a commercial failure.

[5] His work, in addition to spiritual, occult, and ethnic influences, used materials such as exotic woods, pewter and plastic alongside more traditional metals and stones in silhouettes based upon organic human and animal forms.

[2][6] The Duchess of Windsor, who said "I am absolutely fascinated by fake jewellery[...]; I think it is so good", owned a number of pieces by Kirk made from cork, wood, feathers, faux lapis lazuli and gilt metal.