Leila Issam has held “Anything Art” dear to her heart as a motto from a very young age. During a time when children exhibit signs of whether they will grow into aficionados of art or its architects, Leila clearly had the qualities of the latter.
A Qatari jewellery designer, she first obtained her Baccalaureate in French Literature and Philosophy — a combination she felt she needed first in order to understand the discipline that continues today in her thinking process of creating luxury products. She then moved to Paris to study art and design where she experimented with different fine art techniques, as well as design in all its forms; be it conceptual or interior.
But it was after she moved to Florence that jewellery fascinated her from every angle, and thus began a quest for an art form she would take on as her own.
Leila grew up with a sense of business, coming from a family of luxury retailers. Prior to launching her own brand, Leila started her career in the corporate world to understand the gold and diamond business from mining all the way to distribution.
Currently, Leila lives in Amman, Jordan, where she still holds the belief: “Your brand can’t succeed unless you know about the business details within the industry.”
Leila Issam Fine Jewellery was established in 2014 as a home for designing and manufacturing fine and high jewellery, and an ultimate vision of adorning women with jewels that are reflective of their daily inner strength, hard work and ingenuity.
Leila was recently in Doha and Community caught up with her to get to know more about her ideas and ambition.
Sharing her love for art and design, Leila said: “Growing up, art and design were my passion. My mother used to push me to go to the right kind of art classes, get the right supplies, and to try different techniques.
“When I was getting my university degree, I started doing fashion designs. I enjoyed it but knew that it was not the area where I wanted to be. I studied conceptual designs in Paris. Then I moved to Florence and I did interior designs.”
Leila feels all sorts of designs are connected. Her knowledge of different fields of design has helped her in pursuing the career of jewellery designer. “After completing my university education, I started working in gold and diamond trading. There I learnt about diamonds as how to source them — from mining right up to distribution. This has helped me turn design into business and not just fashion. [Smilingly] I wish it were just designs. It is much more complicated.”
With her family already in the business, Leila had access to different stones and jewels to work with. “I did one piece with permission, of course, in 2012. When I realised that it was really an expensive business, I started recycling jewellery. It is normal to get gifts that they sometimes do not necessarily like. The good part of this business is that gold or diamonds do not get wasted. Gold is a commodity forever. So I started dismantling the pieces and redesigning them. I started this practice using the jewellery from my family.”
Leila has been getting inspiration from the appreciation she gets for her innovative designs. “It just keeps me going. I also have clients whose ideas help me in being more and more innovative. I also get a lot of appreciation from my family.
“My inspiration comes from natural phenomena — things that happen in nature — you can actually see but you can feel also. Some of my designs are inspired by the sunbeams that come through forests. I capture those green and yellow sapphires with a hilt of diamond. Some of my pieces represent how a leaf lands on the ground after falling from a tree. I also have shadow collection, showing how I put shadows into jewellery through colours,” she says.
She feels lucky to be a designer in Doha. For her, there is a mix of classical and modern designs available in Qatar. ‘Honestly, Qatar is full of tradition and culture. But I also believe that it is a very modern country. I am very inspired and I am designing for modern Doha.
“Honestly speaking, most of my work is custom-made. My customers and I design together. They give their input. However, I also bring forth my own innovative designs. My clients mainly come to me after seeing my personal designs. But they do help me in coming up with the piece they want. Then I elaborate on the full collection.”
Leila believes that there are growing numbers of Qatari women designers in Doha. Majority of designers are always ready to make their next move. “There are designers in very good numbers. There is however, no cut-throat competition. The competition is actually very healthy. We all can grow together. We can join hands to grow together. During the recently held exhibition [Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition 2019], there were 12 Qatar designers and 10 of them were women. Each one of them had different designs and client bases.”
Leila, a deft designer, encourages aspiring designers to explore the market and bring in novel designs. “My advice is that it is worth a try. We are extremely fortunate to have so many opportunities and support in Doha. It is a really good time to grab the opportunity. Studying designs is important, but following your vision and heart is very important. That feeling is probably lacking in the market. You should go for it.”
The designer sees very different tastes of designs expressed by Arab women. It is not strictly traditional designs. “Every age has a preference. Purely, they have different tastes. It is very difficult to judge. You cannot design one thing for all women.”
Leila acknowledges the support and encouragement that the young Qatari entrepreneurs get from the government. “We get a lot of opportunities to exhibit our designs. The exhibitions like the recent one are always helpful for Qatari women designers. We also get logistic support to move around the jewellery. I would not be able to take part in the exhibition with my small team. The government has been encouraging the Qatari youth to come forward and do what they want to do.”
The designer has big plans for the future. “As the government is encouraging, I think we should be ready to start exporting now. We should position our products abroad. That is what I am aiming at. I will be in New York this May for an exhibition.
“I am really working on building a brand. I work on branding, packaging and the display. We want to export the brand and not just the jewellery.”
The promising designer sees social media as a big platform to market her brand. “Social media is my main source. Most of my sales — before retail – are done online. It is through social media how people get to know me and my jewellery,” she concludes authoritatively.