When Alessandra Ambrosio made her entrance to the amFAR Gala at Cannes Film Festival, all eyes were on the Brazilian beauty — not least because of her incredible jewellery. The Victoria’s Secret model accessorised her one-shoulder, hot pink dress with a necklace and earrings by Saudi Arabian jewellery designer Nadine Attar, catapulting her on to an international stage.
Nadine officially launched her label in the UAE earlier this month with a chic suhoor in Dubai, and this week opened her first store in Jeddah.
We caught up with the designer to chat about her business and what it’s like to have one of the world’s most beautiful women choose your pieces…
- How long have you been designing jewellery for?
Due to my family’s background in the jewellery and watch industry, I got used to feeling and touching a certain quality and standard of finishing; yet I never realised my true passion for jewellery until 2011 during my banking career. At that time, I decided to take a jewellery drawing course to be able to express my ideas better to my manufacturers.
- What’s the creative vision for the brand?
There are many ideas out there. However, our promise to create jewellery that is timeless and worth being passed on for generations, is solid.
- Where do you draw your inspirations from?
Our inspirations are derived either from nature, or actual people amongst us. Character plays a big role in inspiring me, which is why my favourite part of the business is custom made orders. I like to interview people, learn about their personality and perception, their likes and dislikes.
It was a huge sense of validation to release one of my artistic pieces to someone beautiful like Alessandra. It’s not only about her wearing the pieces, but they were actually selected and requested by her.
- Why was now the right time to launch the collection in Dubai? Had you seen a lot of interest for your pieces coming out of the region?
During the pre-launch phase, where I spent two years preparing for the brand, I received international not regional interest in my pieces. So the decision wasn’t derived from an interest stand point, it was more related to creating a buzz as Dubai is the heart of media and publicity in the region — I thought go big or go home!
- What was it like when you find out that Alessandra Ambrosio had worn one of your pieces at Cannes?
After working on my designs for several years, quietly, with very strict confidentiality, it was a huge sense of validation to release one of my artistic pieces to someone beautiful like Alessandra. It’s not only about her wearing the pieces, but they were actually selected and requested by her. It’s important to me that the lady who wears my jewellery genuinely likes it, because in the end it does reflect and show in the overall look.
- What can we expect to see next from the brand?
There are more product lines to be revealed in October/November, which will take place in Jeddah. Jewellery to be revealed will be at all ranges; starting from the bijou daily wear, to high jewellery.
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For more information on the brand, visit Nadinejewellery.com.
Now, discover the 50th anniversary Alhambra collection from Van Cleef & Arpels.
