Fashion designers are notorious. Some are retail favorites or street-style staples, while others (increasingly) rely on celebrity credits to boost their profile. Amina Muaddi ticked all of these options.
But it wasn’t until designers entered the lexicon of TV and film that they were truly immortalized in pop culture, a culture that existed outside the fashion bubble. The benchmark is, of course, “Sex and the City,” where Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Fendi, and others have all gained household recognition. And there are others, from Cher Horowitz’s red Alaïa (“A-whatta?”) miniskirt in Clueless to a Prada backpack in “10 Things I Hate About You” that are among millennial collectors sparked a years-long search. Film lines can be recited line by line.
Over the past year, Moadi has joined the inner circle of TV and film fashion with two big moments on the small screen.
Actress Alexa Demie’s character Maddy wore a pair of Muaddi’s lace-up crystal sandals in a tense bathroom scene during the season two premiere of the highly anticipated HBO drama “Euphoria,” and has since become a favorite from The Times Mind Show meme.
“I spoke to Alexa and she told me that during the second season (shooting) she wore a lot of my shoes. But I don’t have any details about which episode, when and where,” Moadi said in Paris for recalled during the September cover shoot. “So it’s so cool to see her in those shoes in the first episode of season two, it’s an episode everyone’s been waiting for and such a powerful scene because it’s funny and tragic. I found the whole thing It’s all very iconic and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Fast forward a month to Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks, and countless designers are using “euphoria” as the inspiration for their Fall ’22 collections (in fashion and beauty, the Y2K-influenced “euphoria effect” shows no signs of stopping). But it was Muaddi’s aesthetic that initially inspired the show’s portrayal of Gen Z.
“Euphoria” wasn’t the only small-screen moment to immortalize Muaddi’s coveted heels. Last year on the HBO series “Insecure,” Issa and Molly were held at gunpoint by a woman they knew. She demanded, “Molly, please take their shoes off!” pointing to a pair of Muaddi’s clear PVC and crystal Begum slingback pumps (a real-life Cinderella glass slipper collection). When Issa tried to hand over her own shoes, a pair of off-brand ballet flats that were clearly not made by the designer, the robber replied, “Oh, no, you can keep them.”
The scene immediately captures the excitement that Muaddi footwear has created since the eponymous brand launched in 2018.
“We’re in these wonderful series that represent today’s youth and culture. They’re relevant in today’s world,” said Muaddi. “It’s very representative of the needs of women today. When moments like this are remembered, it’s nice to be a part of it.”
