Jude Benhalim started making jewellery at the mere age of seven. “I used to love scouring markets and bazaars for colourful beads to string together into bracelets, so I made a bunch and sold every single piece to friends and family,” she recalls. In high school, she had to complete a creative design project and chose jewellery-making, which led her to launch her namesake brand in 2011 at only 17 years old. A decade later, her creations have found a home in three stores across Egypt and are traveling the globe adorning celebrities such as Chrissy Teigen, Tinashe and Kendall Jenner.
Benhalim’s jewellery is a combination of contemporary art and Oriental Arabic craft, inspired by the chaos and magic of her home city, Cairo, and its ancient Egyptian heritage. In her art, Benhalim recreates the beauty that lies in the details of life and nature by drawing on geometric shapes and architectural designs. Through curating intricately handcrafted pieces, the designer has found her own way of promoting sustainability and women’s empowerment.
Born and raised in Egypt, Benhalim is of Libyan and Syrian origin. Following in the footsteps of her mother who worked in fashion and her father who is an architect, she always knew that she wanted a career that fuelled her creativity. “It was always so exciting to me to see my sketches come to life and to be encouraged by people that liked my work”, she says. Being exposed to western culture through school and media, Benhalim considers herself an artist who transcends East and West, aiming to encompass the multiculturalism of the modern world without losing sight of her Arab roots and their design tropes. Her four collections: Etruria, Eruption, Cordelia and Soulful Spectrum, are, in her own words, “love letters to the things that put a fire in my soul”. They are influenced by her surroundings: the sea, the natural world, as well as places she travels or abstract concepts she feels a connection to. “I architectured each collection to be as timeless as the elements that inspired them, so I prefer not to confine the collections to a particular time but to the boundless elements that transcend time and my own personal memories.”
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Soulful Spectrum and Cordelia
In Jude Benhalim’s latest collaboration, Soulful Spectrum, she joins forces with Egyptian fashion blogger and entrepreneur, Yasmine Zahran. In all-resin capsules of lime green, raspberry pink, electric blue, violet, melon green, and pumpkin orange, they wonder about the power of colour. The designs explore the endless emotions and sentimental memories that we experience at the hands of colour psychology, asking how colour affects our mood and touches our deepest senses. Inviting customers on a journey through their inner selves, Soulful Spectrum promises that “discovering your energy will lead you to deeper self-understanding and greater individual expression.”
Seeking refuge from Cairo’s overwhelming pace of life, Benhalim turns towards nature for inspiration and serenity in her latest collection, Cordelia — a stunning selection of earrings, necklaces, cuffs, and rings in artistically battered gold-plated brass, silver and resin. “Cordelia, meaning ‘jewel of the sea’ - embodies the boundless span of life found underwater.”
Eruption and authentic craftsmanship
Benhalim’s Eruption channels the energy of fire and earth within, using asymmetric elements, curvy silhouettes, irregular waves, and cutouts to encapsulate the image of the red-hot fire still visible through the cracks of dry lava. Releasing this fiery collection in 2020, Benhalim established her brand as environmentally aware and committed to ethical practices — based on the conviction that art and sustainability can live harmoniously. “I want to contribute to the world as opposed to damaging it,” she says, “Egypt has a long way to go in terms of commercial sustainability, but on the contrary, traditional Egyptian craftsmanship — especially in the rural areas of Upper Egypt are conscious and sustainable in their practices.”
Her creations come alive through the techniques of authentic Egyptian craftsmanship. In addition to working with local artisans, the designer uses recycled metals, with each stone crafted and dyed by hand in her Cairo studio. The process yields as little waste as possible, any of which is then reincorporated and re-purposed back into other pieces. “We strive to set the precedent for sustainable jewelry production in the industry using widely forgotten traditional crafting ethics that have taken a back seat as of recently.”
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Female empowerment
In her Cairo workshop, Benhalim aims to empower women artisans “in the ways they see fit for themselves”. As a team, they draw inspiration and strength from other women, by watching them do what they do. She imagines this process as an exchange of artisan and customer, an energy that flows through the jewellery pieces that are passed on. “I want my jewellery to make women feel powerful and invincible,” she says, “I want them to feel the energy of every stage of the crafting process and to draw strength from the women on our team that make this jewellery come to life.”
“The process of putting jewellery on is an expression of love,” Benhalim concludes, “You’re thinking intricately about ways to decorate yourself in the pieces that give you the utmost joy. You’re armed with history and culture through your jewellery and part of that history is the craftsmanship that is very deeply rooted in Egyptian culture.”