Azza Fahmy has done Egypt a national service with her newest collection for her culture line. Having worked for over three years on the research and development of her new Pharaonic collection, Fahmy produced a large set of necklaces, rings, cuffs and earrings.
The Pharaonic collection is, of course, inspired by motifs, themes and concepts of Ancient Egypt, but what she has done was simply more than use those tired and staid themes; instead, adapting and evolving them for the use of contemporary wear.
The collection’s title is “Love and Wisdom.” Fahmy tried to extract the symbolic references of those two ideas from jewelry of the Middle Kingdom, taking inspiration points from the tombs of ancient princesses and the art and architecture of the New Kingdom as well as the ‘Amarna’ period with its focus on the ancients’ love for nature.
Her research was thorough to extract motifs of columned pillars on a ring, or else tell the story of the beauty of palm fronds on a cuff.
This collection is a far cry from the kitsch and ugly cartouches found in the average Khan El-Khalili bazaar. It draws inspiration from the jewelry pieces created by Cartier and other fine jewelers after the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1928.
The world’s love affair with Ancient Egyptian history couldn’t be satiated as fine collars and bracelets of gold, turquoise and lapis lazuli were produced to meet those desires. Then, the world seemingly ignored it until Elizabeth Taylor portrayed Cleopatra in the 60s.
This year’s revolution has reignited peoples’ interest in Egypt as collections shown at London’s Fashion Week show clear influence points from Ancient Egyptian culture, most notably in Top Shop’s collection with its gold bustiers, black and pink gauzy chiffon dresses.
Fahmy though has been working on this collection for quite some time, wishing to commemorate her country in the way she does best.
Notable pieces from the collection include a necklace of scarabs strung on a multi-layered collar of blue stones which cries for the wearer to have their hair up. The clasp is two eagle heads that meet at the back, a detail that is discrete yet so beautiful when spotted from behind.
A collar of lapis lazuli stones and flat sheets of hand carved palm fronds and lotus flowers is where Fahmy plays with the modern stylization of the old. Large winged scarabs as earrings are flattened, and a cartouche ring with turquoise enamel spans the width of several fingers.
A particularly creative piece is the winged necklace: a variety of wings inspired by tomb drawings of Horus are all strung together, every feathery detail highlighted precisely.
There’s something for everyone in this collection. If cuffs are a woman’s jewelry of choice, a beautiful vignette of the ancient’s farming and harvesting story is told in segmented sections, lotuses, farming tools and patterns narrating the story just as well as the ancients did on their walls.
The pieces could be worn both during day and night, with cocktail wear or a casual T-shirt. The beauty of it though is that finally, Egyptian women can disregard the limited options of poorly made jewelry to celebrate the most fashion-profound period of Egyptian history.
The collection begs for a modern day Cleopatra: a strong woman with a passionate love for Egypt.
