Jordanian jeweller Lama Hourani opens boutique in Shanghai

With her striking, sculpted silver range of jewellery decorating austere white vases along a wall and on a table, Jordanian designer Lama Hourani's new Shanghai showroom looks more like an art gallery or museum than a fashion boutique. A celebrity designer in the Arab world, Hourani has a clientele that extends beyond royalty or socialites to even the pope.

Hourani has exquisite taste, from her personal style to the apartment she shares with her husband (already featured in several Chinese glossies). The just-opened showroom on the ground floor of a French Concession lane house features custom-made, architecturally complex gold and marble plinths, a deep sapphire blue carpet, designer armchairs, black and white photography of ethnic minority tribes, elegant plants and stylish mirrors. It's basically a fitting place for a style maven and her treasures.

"The showroom is exclusive, and visits are by appointment only," Shanghai-based Hourani says. "So there's that discovery aspect, too. I opened it because people in China were just so curious. It was amazing. The handmade aspect is special, and it's a major plus for me to have a proper presence here."

Those who have met Hourani quickly realise she isn't just another trend-flipping fashion victim. Today her hair is pulled back into a knot, she's looking chic in a dusky pink outfit by Vivienne Tam, big eyes shining with excitement and exhaustion over finally finishing renovations and fittings.

After several trunk shows and pop-ups in Shanghai and Hong Kong (she's a frequent visitor), this opening also coincides with her launch of fine jewellery using 18-carat gold, precious and semi-precious stones, and the growth of her Chinese business.

"The major difference between the two lines is that silver is super-extravagant and the fine jewellery is more like second skin, very wearable," she says.