T
he designer behind ZAHN-Z Jewelry, Hiba Husayni, displays a softspoken, quiet demeanor that runs contrary to her fierce determination and inexhaustible spirit. Growing up in a small city in Syria called Homs, Hiba was a quintessential middle child, more daring and independent than her siblings. A bit of a troublemaker, she had an unquenchable desire to create, and she saw the value in her creative output at an early age, selling homemade Mother’s Day cards to her fellow 13 year old friends. Her insatiable curiosity had the young Hiba sneaking into her mother’s jewelry box, examining and admiring each and every piece, mesmerized by its beauty and construction.
Her passion for jewelry design never waned however, and she found herself sketching through the toughest of times brought on by the ongoing conflict in Syria.
Image courtesy of ZAHN-Z Jewelry
It was in inspecting one of her mother’s rings after she had come home from a dinner one night that Hiba became even more enchanted by the mechanics that held the diamond securely in place, and she suddenly recognized the level of engineering that had to be applied to its creation. While this spark to gain deeper understanding had been ignited, Syria didn’t have the same tradition of jewelry as a career path that exists in the west, so Hiba went on to study architecture.
Image courtesy of ZAHN-Z Jewelry
Her passion for jewelry design never waned however, and she found herself sketching through the toughest of times brought on by the ongoing conflict in Syria. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, in 2012, Hiba decided to leave Syria and pursue her true calling in jewelry design.
Image courtesy of ZAHN-Z Jewelry
As a student of architecture, Hiba had long admired the work of Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, Dame Zaha Hadid, a.k.a. the Queen of the Curve, who once said, “There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?” In the development of her collections, Hiba applies this understanding to create designs that are complex in their simplicity. Just like the French Damascene houses of her childhood, where walking through the doors of a plain exterior reveals a magical world of fountains, lavish gardens, tiles, arches, mosaics and mother-of-pearl furniture, the beauty of her work is at once subtle and breathtaking.
Image courtesy of ZAHN-Z Jewelry
Hiba will be presenting two collections during her COUTURE debut inspired by her Syrian heritage and architectural icons, Sadaf and ZAHA. Sadaf invokes the feeling of viewing the world without being seen, sitting by a calming, steady stream of water, the scent of lemons and jasmine in the air, peering outside through the lattice work of moucharabieh and carved wood screens. ZAHA pays homage to Dame Zaha Hadid and showcases the elegance in negative space through the principles of diagonal lines and irregular curves. At once substantive and joyous, Hiba’s jewelry reveals the same depth of character as the designer herself; playful, thoughtful, mischievous and kind.
Image courtesy of ZAHN-Z Jewelry
Image courtesy of ZAHN-Z Jewelry
Image courtesy of ZAHN-Z Jewelry
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