Ana Khouri is a Brazilian-born jewelry designer based in New York known for her edgy styled ear cuffs and jewelry created with ethically sourced gemstones.
Early life and education
Ana Khouri was born in São Paulo, Brazil and grew up in Londrina, a city west of São Paolo. She spent her childhood between Brazil and the US and moved back to New York in 2012. Her father is an engineer. She studied sculpture at art school and holds a degree in Fine Arts from FAAP. Khouri studied gemology from the Gemological Institute of America and also studied at Parsons School of Design in New York. Additionally, Khouri has completed a course in jewelry design from London's Central Saint Martins, and has studied under Hermès. Khouri trained as a painter and sculptor before becoming a jewelry designer. Her path to jewelry was an unexpected result when she was finding out new ways to display a student art project and created sculptures, which hung off the bodies of naked art models. The sculptures diverted her to jewelry design.
Ana Khouri (company)
Khouri officially launched her New York-based namesake line in 2013. She works with ethically and responsibly sourced gemstones, 18K Fairmined and Fairtrade gold or platinum. Her jewelry making approach is anatomic forms that establish a close connection with the wearer and help them shine. She experiments with untraditional ways of wearing jewelry. She is one of the early adopters of the ear cuff trend and has also experimented with earrings which extend up and into the ear. Khouri has been sculpting and working on individual special projects since 2002.
Khouri shows her new work once a year in the City of Lights during the Haute Couture and High Jewelry presentations in July. Rather than release seasonal collections, Khouri focuses on limited editions. Her namesake collection was launched in the US in 2013.Beginning in 2014, Ana Khouri presents once a year during Paris Fashion Week. These presentations center on a single concept that informs the designs, displays, and settings of the collection. Her first solo exhibition was held at the New York Phillips auction house in September 2018, which was open for four days. Khouri has worked in collaboration with fashion designerNarciso Rodriguez, contributing pieces to complement his Spring/Summer '16 collection, and again for Fall/Winter '16. Ana partnered with Dover Street Market in New York for the release of her 2015 and 2016 collections, and again in 2017 for the release of her first Haute Joaillerie collection, in London. In 2016, the designer launched a bridal collection with Barneys New York. In 2017, Khouri partnered with Gemfields to create a special five-piece capsule collection reimagining some of her original designs using ethically sourced emeralds from Zambia. In 2019 Khouri exhibited her jewelry at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. During the corona-pandemic, Khouri created a sapphire ring and donated 100% of its proceeds to Doctors Without Borders.
Additional affiliations
Khouri is a member of CFDA and the second contemporary jeweler to garner distinction at Phillips.
Awards and recognitions
Khouri is the winner of the 2017 ANDAM Accessory Award. In 2019 she was nominated for the Jewelry Design category at the GEM Awards 2020.
