R I W A Y A | Stories Worn

At JDEED, we’re sort of always on a plane, flying from Beirut to Dubai or from Mascate to Manama. That’s probably for that reason that we fell in love with R I W A Y A’s airplane ring that was only the beginning of our affection for the brand itself. Modern yet timeless, R I W A Y A’s  jewelry combines elegance and edgyness while inviting the customer to tell a story through their jewel. To tell their own story. 

Tell us a bit about the women behind the brand and how it all started?

We actually started making our own jewelry the summer of 2006 in Beirut, creating bold necklaces and bracelets that would perfectly match our colorful outfits. Our friends were our first customers and Hamra festival, our first pop-up experience.

Ten years and thousands of beads and colorful charms later, R I W A Y A was born. As we mature, so did the brand and we ventured into the world of precious metals. As with most things, we started making rings because we saw a need, a need for meaningful jewelry, specifically pinky rings. We wanted to create everyday jewelry that tells stories.

How has the brand evolved since its beginning and what have been some of its great achievements?

More than anything, seeing our jewelry being worn and loved by so many people is always a proud moment. To think that in today’s ephemeral fashion scene customers are still so interested in a design we introduced two years ago is very fulfilling, especially in places like Beirut and Dubai where people are always looking for the next best thing.

Do your Arabic origins play a role in your creative process? Do they inspire you?

Most definitely. The name of the brand, R I W A Y A, means story in Arabic. We think that it is the belonging to two different places at once what really augments your desire to create something you can completely identify with and call it your own. Being born and raised in Latin America played a major role in instigating our love for jewelry but it is our origins and living in the Middle East that fuels the creativity behind the process.

Who is the RIWAYA woman? Do you have a muse?

We don’t really design with a woman in mind but rather a specific feeling or concept and that in turn might appeal to women from so many different walks of life and styles. Our first collection was inspired by our travels and so it attracted wanderlusters while our second collection tapped into the surreal and magical and it attracted romantics. One thing they all sure have in common is their love for jewelry with a story.

What is your favorite piece out of your collections and why?

It’s hard to choose since the collections are thematic and when worn, one ring seems to crave the company of its counterpart, but if we had to choose it would undoubtedly be the map ring because of it’s symbolic sense of wander and literal tribute to the world.

Please fill in the gap: To us the perfect piece of jewelry is…

A piece that you can wear everyday and never get weary of.

Where do you see RIWAYA in 3 years? 10 years?

We definitely created R I W A Y A with a multifaceted concept in mind that will hopefully expand beyond the realm of rings. We are taking it slowly but steadily and hopefully in a few years we will be talking to JDEED from our store.

Anyone you’d wish to collaborate with?

A collaboration with a dear friend and fellow Lebanese designer is on works so very excited about it!