Jude Benhalim wears the city's "Urban Vibrance" on her sleeves

"Everyone moves up the scale when they have a magazine as prestigious as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar write about them; it is like getting a good grade on a school project," says designer

As summer covers the city, the concrete sidewalks and steel bridges embrace the maroon aura of heat and sunshine. The city buzzes with life all week long as women reach out to their rainbow of summer dresses.
While she might not fit in with the stereotypes, the vibrancy of the season speaks to her and it is only a matter of time before she complies with nature well. Despite her rebel nature and her urgency to escape the metropolis, she trades her favourite hues of grey for colour; ready to spend one more summer in the concrete jungle.
After holding her heroin's hand until she manages to overcome her inner-weakness and find her voice among the madness, Jude Benhalim decided to continue unfolding her on-going wearable tale through a new summer chapter. Building on the massive success of Urban Rebel, the local jewellery designer chose to embrace the capital's city lights and metropolitan valour to introduce the Urban Vibrance collection.
While Arabic calligraphy still whispers stories of womanhood and self-acceptance, silver is moulded to imitate the hidden details of contemporary architecture. On the other hand, maps were turned into motifs documented on flamboyant acrylic.
Daily News Egypt spoke with Benhalim to know more about the new collection and talk about the noticeable critic and commercial success of the home-grown brand.
What is the creative emphasis of introducing colour to your heroine's story at this point?
The Urban Rebel is still who she is inside. She is someone trying to make it in the city; meanwhile, each part and corner of the busy metropolis is part of her. Introducing colour to the pieces reflects the Urban Rebel's love and passion for summer without straying from who she is.
What inspired you to keep building on the same collection?
The heroine in the story is who she is and the city is still a very big part of her. However, that does not affect her need to enjoy summer as well as all the bright colours and memories it brings. Every one of us looks for those summer pieces while still maintaining our sense of fashion. That is what happened to the Urban Rebel.
How did your recent celebrity placements reflect on your brand?
Celebrity placements definitely got us a lot more recognition amongst local women; furthermore, it paved our way to a new older and more mature audience, which is amazing. Now we have all types of women, a wide spectrum of age and fashion aesthetic, wearing our jewellery in their own unique style; which is extremely rewarding to witness.
Based on personal experience, how vital is international media recognition to local brands? What did it add to your already well-established brand?
International media recognition definitely adds more credibility to your brand. Everyone moves up the scale when they have a magazine as prestigious as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar write about them; it is like getting a good grade on a school project.
It is all very rewarding. We are incredibly grateful and happy that we had the chance to be recognized by such big names in the fashion industry.
After walking away from your signature bullet last season, what is your new best seller?
We still have bullet items that we sell as it is such an intricate part of the brand and still remains a best seller. However, for the Urban Rebel collection: the cracked concrete set has done amazing this season.
Our clients have also added their own fashion print on it as they have managed to wear it in complete different ways and styles; which has further inspired and amazed us.
What is next for Jude Benhalim?
It is all very exciting! There is always a way to make more designs, more content, and dress up more women; it is all a part of an everlasting cycle that keeps me going. We are working on a new collection as well as gaining more and more regional recognition. Meanwhile, we are always working towards positioning Egypt on the international fashion map.