Why Celebrities are Obsessed with Amina Muaddi's Statement Footwear
Amina Muaddi's shoe designs are helping to bring the fun back to fashion. Amidst a swing back to maximalism evident through Euphoria makeup and trends including florals and animal print, her signature heels are making sure that chic eccentricity goes from head to toe. Her recognizable creations have become an Instagram hit, showing up in posts from the Hadids, the Jenners, and more alongside going-out looks and Savage X Fenty lingerie alike.
Best known for her kick-flare heels, which she described as a force of “beauty, passion, and desire” to MyTheresa, Muaddi’s eponymous footwear line features vibrant colors and holographic designs, a testament to the brand's sultry and playful party-shoe aesthetic. As for a trademark, the designer’s recognizable geometric heel adds a distinctive touch to her styles.
Growing up between Jordan, Romania, and Italy, Muaddi developed an eye for what tastemakers around the world truly want: a perfect blend of effortless glamour, impeccable craftsmanship, and fashion-forward style. The color palette and shape provide something refreshing to fashion, but the shoes also feel like a new classic, not specific to a season or trend.
After studying at the European Institute of Design in Milan and styling stints for publications like L’Uomo Vogue and GQ, Muaddi found designing shoes to be the perfect expression of her creative vision. She challenged herself to learn her new trade from the essentials, taking off to the Riviera del Brenta, Italy’s storied shoe-making district. There, she worked with world-class artisans and suppliers to develop each and every one of her shoes’ 40-50 components.
She co-founded her first shoe brand, Oscar Tiye, in Milan, then moved to Paris, where she collaborated with French couturier Alexandre Vauthier on the launch of his eponymous shoe line, which she designs to this day. Muaddi then launched her own eponymous label in 2018, at the age of 31. Her start was so strong that she won the 2018 FN Achievement Award for Launch of the Year, giving an emotional speech at the event about what success has meant to her.
“For a girl who comes where I come from, to be here, to be able to live my dreams and inspire Middle Eastern women to live their own dreams and be able to dress women I could have never imagined I’d be able to dress, it’s an honor,” she explained at the awards show.
It's easy to see why Muaddi's designs have achieved awards and internet acclaim, as her shoes' modern glamour and fluted heels are the perfect fit for today’s tastemaker. Muaddi usually only produces one collection a year, then releases these designs to select retailers and her website on a monthly basis. She has cleverly kept the distribution of her shoes, which can largely be characterized as “hyper sexy," extremely limited, feeding the digital frenzy that has fed the success of drops from brands like Fenty and Yeezy. The shoes are the embodiment of contemporary luxury: timeless quality meets cutting-edge design. It’s no surprise that she’s been scooped up by everyone from Browns to Net-a-Porter, so expect to see plenty more of her in the near future.
Muaddi is just one example of a new breed of creatives turning their Instagram influence into a mainstream fashion industry presence. Alongside the likes of Caroline Daur and Attico’s Giorgia Tordini and Gilda Ambrosio, the fashion insider has turned her captivating style into a full-fledged business. Though there has long been a divide in fashion between traditional designers and editors and the new talents making their names through social media-first concepts, it's clear as the world changes that this line is getting ever more blurred. Here's to seeing how Muaddi's viral shoes continue to make their mark in the new decade, both on celebrity Instagrams and in the fashion industry in general.
