Meet Ana Khouri, 2017 Accessories ANDAM prize winner

With an exclusive presentation scheduled for Wednesday at the Ritz hotel during Paris Haute Couture week, the Brazilian-born jewelry star is on the rise, and has been known to name her sculptural white and yellow gold creations like old friends.

One look at Ana Khouri's jewelry and it is plain to see that sculpture was the first love of the designer who picked up a special ANDAM accessories prize last week for young talent. Interestingly proportioned, often off-kilter or mismatched earrings, rings, and precision cut jewels -- all demonstrate a particular attention to detail and an affinity with geometry. Her limited edition pieces look to the work of Calder, Serra and Bourgeois for guidance.

For US-based Khouri, who launched her namesake line in 2006, designing jewelry is an art; it is about the myriad ways that a piece can take shape on the wearer, and the balance the work creates with the body.

Her intimate approach to jewelry design is further illustrated in her penchant for naming her jewel pieces as if they were old friends. Her approach is borne of the belief that jewelry, more than any other item, has the ability to create deep connection with the wearer, hence the names of her styles -- Claire, Ophelia, Francesca, Lourdes, Gina, Norah...

Born to an engineer father and pianist/teacher mother who is said to have passed on her passion for the arts, Ana's creative story began in Sao Paulo at the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado. It was in art school that she first began designing and hanging pieces from nude models. It was then that Khouri started thinking critically about sculpture, and more precisely about how she could make pieces that spoke directly to the body.

"Sculpture to me is as much a visual pleasure as it is a tactile experience," reveals the designer.

Khouri spent part of her formative years in New York where she graduated from the Gemological Institute of America and Parsons, before traveling to London to study at Central Saint Martins.

It was only after completing her studies that Ana returned to Sao Paulo to set up her own design studio. In the 11 years since then Khouri has gained steadily in reputation. Her designs have been worn by Michelle Pfeiffer, Katy Perry, Emma Watson, Zoe Kravitz and Lily James. She currently works in New York where she has been based since 2012.

Her acclaimed 'Dichotomy' collection, which she presented last year in Paris, features stunning diamond-encrusted white and yellow drop and curved slide earrings.

A year on, Ana Khouri will reveal her latest jewel creations with another exclusive presentation on Wednesday at the Ritz Hotel, during Paris Haute Couture week.