[gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="31191,31190,31189,31188"] Dona Paranayil Saudi Gazette Saudi designers Lamya and Nora Alkhorayef design minimalistic jewelry by blending their designs with art forms and colors of nature. "Nature has inspired us, including the new generation and their way of style and details," Lamya told Saudi Gazette. Jewelry symbolizes make up or body art to both sisters. "Jewelry is worn not to match one's outfit but for the beauty of your body," said Nora. Their work was previously displayed at Womex exhibition and recently showcased at the gallery space in Nojoud Mall, Riyadh as part of Riyadh Fashion Days, an event that presents new designers from the region. "We thought about filling the gap in daily fashionable jewelry, and created our own brand, Sedra," said Lamya. Their latest collection is the called the Leaves collection. "The theme for our designs includes mostly flowers and nature," said Nora. Interestingly neither studied jewelry design yet create jewelry pieces and have a passion for it. They further explained the production process involved with Sedra jewelry. "First we brain storm, sketch, and then manufacture the design and edit it until it reaches the best look. The materials used are gold, gemstone and diamond," said Lamya. Their brand which is over a year old faced various challenges in the beginning and involved a lot of research. "We worked for several months, we were looking for an Arabic name, a meaningful one and we finally chose Sedra, named after the heavens tree," said Nora. "Looking for a good manufacturer to work on our designs was a big challenge," added Lamya. Their collection can be purchased at [email protected]. Currently, they have a gulf audience but they have bigger goals in mind. "We want our brand to become international and popular worldwide," said Nora. "We would like to see everyone on the streets wearing our designs," added Lamya. Their designs are only for women. "Saudi women want our pieces to be elegant and available at reasonable prices," said Nora. Saudi Arabia is seeing women designers rising gradually and among them Lamya and Nora could be portrayed as role models to aspiring jewelry designers. They have a message to share with those who wish to start an enterprise on their own: "Do not fear taking opportunities and taking risks, it will be worth it," Lamya said.
