Nicknamed the “Queen of Bling”, Shourouk Rhaiem is a French jewellery designer who graduated from Studio Berçot. This summer, in collaboration with Swarovski, she unveils her new exhibition: “C’est chouette la vie” (“Life is Great”). Held at the Pixi gallery, with ostentatious style and glitter galore, the exhibition pays tribute to everyday objects, casting them in a new light.
Rhaiem first created her eponymous brand of accessories in 2007, with her partner Pierre Lasquier. Her Swarovski crystal jewellery is gaining popularity and attracting the attention of the biggest international stars, from Lady Gaga and Jessica Chastain to the former first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. Her pieces have also been worn on hit TV shows like Gossip Girl and Sex and the City. Shourouk Rhaiem stands out from the crowd with an explosion of colour and opulence: hers is a confident style that opens the doors to major Maisons from Chloé and Galliano to Cavalli. Her “artistic excess” has caught the eye of the greats, opening the doors for her to collaborate with Philippe Starck on a reinterpretation of the “Joa Sekoya” chair, and even Jean Paul Gaultier for his cinema-themed Haute Couture F/W 2009 show.
It was for Swarovski that Shourouk Rhaiem decided to express her talent through contemporary art, putting together her first artistic installation entitled “Ordinary Life” in Austria. Her new exhibition, “C’est chouette la vie”, is inspired by the 80s, a time when ad campaigns became a true form of artistic expression. Shourouk Rhaiem reinterprets and revisits everyday objects, transforming them into pieces of jewellery. Containers of Ajax washing liquid, packs of Gitanes cigarettes, and even Coke bottles are rhinestone-studded and embellished, giving these quotidian objects from her childhood an offbeat, enchanted air. The Parisian artist and designer brings out each product by presenting it as a true work of art, highlighting the ordinary until it becomes extraordinary.
