Craving some Paris chic? And India and Tunisia? Breeze by North Beach's La Boutique to get a slice of European style and spotlight accessory designer Shourouk. The elegant boutique carries hard-to-find designers like Vanessa Bruno, Cacharel and Jerome Dreyfuss, and also Paris-based mixed media magnifico Shourouk.

The designer recently visited San Francisco for the first time for an exhibition in her honor. The soft spoken Tunisian beauty hosted a curated collection of necklaces, bracelets, bags, sequin shawls and brilliant Frida Kahlo-inspired headpieces. Everything had an artsy appeal; an elaborate paper tree held twinkling necklaces, while a pseudo atelier was set up to help demonstrate Shourouk's creative process.

Back to those headpieces. Shourouk is a fan of Frida Kahlo and fashioned the silk flower, Swarovski crystal, bead, and sequin pieces after learning about Kahlo's once-upon-a-time residency in the foggy city. Concurrently, Lady Gaga is a fan of Shourouk — the icon recently bought one of her spiked Ursula headpieces.

Shourouk's roots are in fashion. She worked at famed fashion houses Chloe, John Galliano, and Roberto Cavalli before setting out to make her mark four years ago. Her niche is a unique mix of ornamental maharaja and classic Cartier jewelry. Shourouk takes fun and pop colors and creates a remix of classic jewelry.

Shourouk's also an animal lover. Each season she brings a new friend into the mix. She started with birds — one of her most popular motifs — then fox, cheetahs, bears, and now snakes. Beyond statement jewelry, loaded with rawr, Shourouk takes on SF. Oui oui!

Photos by Julie Michelle and Samantha Durbin

Samantha Durbin (sami.7x7@gmail.com) is a lifestyle writer who honed her blogging skills as Editor of FabSugar.com. Samantha graduated from The Fashion Institute of Technology, also writes for San Francisco magazine and shares her musings via her poly-blog network, led by SFonFire.