Contents
SUMMARY
Amina Muaddi is a luxury fashion label founded by Jordanian-Romanian accessory designer. Popular for the bold design details — such as sculptural heels, pyramid or square block shapes, vibrant colours, crystal embellishments, and transparent materials — the brand has achieved celebrity favour with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Kendall Jenner and Rihanna, with whom she collaborated on Fenty footwear, strong wholesale and retail placement, and critical recognition. With influences drawn from the founder’s multicultural background (Jordanian-Romanian) and training in Italy’s historic shoemaking districts, the label has balanced artisanal craftsmanship with a modern, trend-setting sensibility.
HISTORY
Amina Muaddi was born to a Jordanian father and a Romanian mother. She spent parts of her childhood in Jordan and Romania, later moving to Italy to complete her education. She studied at the European Institute of Design in Milan. Early exposure to the arts and fashion, together with her upbringing in diverse cultural settings, shaped her aesthetic sensibilities.
Before launching her eponymous brand, Muaddi co-founded Oscar Tiye in 2012 in Milan, which became known for its playful footwear shapes (for example, Minnie Mouse-inspired heels) and drew interest from celebrities. During this period she also worked in fashion media (including L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italy and American GQ), which gave her insight into styling, trends, and editorial perspectives. Parallel to this, she spent time in Riviera del Brenta, the historic Italian footwear district, learning about artisanal shoe-making, getting hands-on with suppliers and manufacturing components.
In August 2018, Muaddi launched her own namesake label, departing from Oscar Tiye in or around 2017. She drew on her experience with media, her craftsmanship training, and her unique design vision to create shoes that quickly became visible in high-end retailers. The signature heel shape (often a wide square or pyramid-inspired heel), bold colour combinations, Swarovski-style details, transparent elements and other striking motifs distinguished the brand early on.
The brand has engaged in a number of high-profile collaborations. Notably, Muaddi was commissioned by Rihanna’s Fenty to design footwear, with the first drop in July 2020. She has also worked with AWGE (A$AP Rocky’s creative agency) on a capsule collection, and with Wolford for an exclusive capsule of ready-to-wear pieces. There have also been smaller collaborations (e.g. cause-driven product lines) via retailers. These collaborations have served both to broaden the brand’s aesthetic reach and to reinforce its luxury and celebrity appeal.
Over a relatively short period, the brand has scaled significantly. By 2022-2023, Amina Muaddi reported revenues of around US$ 55 million in some reports. The brand began to firm up its infrastructure—for example, forging stronger relationships with Italian suppliers, increasing production capacity, expanding staff, and experimenting with bricks-and-mortar presence. One concrete step was opening a permanent shop-in-shop (corner) within Harrods in London as its first foray into a physical retail environment under its own controlled layout, merchandising, and store design.
The brand has begun engaging with conscious design and social responsibility in several ways. For instance, in 2024 it won a PETA Vegan Award for its Brito Slipper heels, crafted from plexiglass and TPU, in the Fashion category recognising animal-friendly design. The brand has also taken part in charitable partnerships; for example, creating a T-shirt for Net-a-Porter for International Women’s Day where 100% of the profits were donated to Women for Women International. However, according to independent assessments (such as Good On You), public information on the brand’s sustainability across all supply chains is currently limited.
Amina Muaddi has navigated challenges typical for young luxury brands: managing demand vs supply, maintaining exclusivity, preserving brand identity, avoiding over-extension. Strategically, the brand has controlled distribution (limiting stockist orders), delayed expanding into physical retail until ready, and emphasised experiential retail. It has also broadened its portfolio beyond shoes into accessories such as bags and jewellery (launched around 2020). Annual sales, market reputation, celebrity endorsements, and noteworthy awards (see below) have all been pivotal in consolidating its status.
VISION
Amina Muaddi’s vision centres on creating footwear and accessories that merge sculptural artistry with wearability. Her designs often juxtapose glamour with comfort—balancing heights, materials and form so that the shoes make a statement yet feel desirable to wear. She draws heavily on her own multicultural upbringing, the luxurious craftsmanship traditions of Italian shoemaking, and her early experiences in fashion media. Her signature designs (square or pyramid heels, bold colour, and transparency) show her commitment to a distinct visual identity.
Muaddi has articulated a vision for long-term brand longevity. To her, growth entails paying careful attention to production quality, maintaining strong relationships with artisans and suppliers, ensuring that expansion is deliberate, and that the brand retains its core DNA. She has often emphasised that exclusivity, scarcity, and high desirability are important facets of maintaining luxury status. The vision includes innovation in material use, collaboration, and design, with awareness of ethical, environmental and social dimensions.
Muaddi has spoken about emotional resonance in her pieces: that shoes are not merely fashion but carry meaning, empower wearers, and be objects of desire. She also embraces new ways of thinking in sustainability—even if she acknowledges that perfect sustainability is a complex ideal. The idea is that products should be made to be cherished. Furthermore, Muaddi’s role as mentor to young designers (e.g. involvement with Istituto Marangoni, Florence) underscores her vision of giving back and cultivating the next generation.
MISSION STATEMENT
The label’s mission is to create luxury footwear and fashion accessories that combine artistry, craftsmanship, and individuality, offering designs that are instantly recognisable, emotionally impactful, and built to last. The mission underscores the belief that design should not just follow trends but push boundaries in form, colour, and ornamentation, while respecting the tradition of shoemaking. To maintain a brand identity rooted in authenticity, quality and thoughtful growth, the designer ensures that every piece reflects high-quality materials, careful construction, and an attention to detail. This involves partnering with skilled artisans, making conscious decisions about design and production, and limiting over-saturation so that each product retains desirability.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Amina Muaddi – Founder, Creative Director and Chief Executive Officer.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
The core of the brand remains its shoes. This includes stilettos, sandals, sling-backs, mules, boots, pumps, evening heels and special-occasion footwear. Signature elements include bold heel shapes, transparent or partially transparent uppers or embellishments, crystal bows or detailing, unexpected materials, and sculptural silhouettes. Styles like the Begum heel became iconic early on. The luxury brand sets heel heights that push fashion boundaries while trying to balance wearability.
From about 2020 onward, the brand expanded into accessory categories beyond footwear. It introduced handbags (even micro bags known informally as Aminis), jewellery, and small leather goods. These carry over much of the design vocabulary from the footwear line—bold ornamentation, statement hardware, sometimes smaller versions of motifs used in shoes. The expansion allows the brand to offer more complete styling options for customers and to diversify its product offering.
The brand distributes via high-end retailers (e.g. Bergdorf Goodman, Harvey Nichols, Mytheresa, Browns, etc.), operates direct-to-consumer e-commerce, and is building physical retail presence (shop-in-shop, corners, and eventually freestanding stores). It also invests in experiential retail design (store layout, staff uniforms, merchandising), collaborations, limited-edition drops and capsule collections to maintain exclusivity and brand narrative. On the services side, the brand engages in mentorship, educational collaborations, charitable efforts, and curated marketing content.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Amina Muaddi has been the recipient of several footwear- and fashion-industry awards. Early on, she won the Footwear News Achievement Award for Launch of the Year in 2018, and then Designer of the Year in 2019. These recognitions helped establish her as a rising force in luxury footwear. In 2023, Amina Muaddi received the Neiman Marcus Award for Innovation in the Field of Fashion. This was part of a broader programme by Neiman Marcus to recognise emerging brand leaders.
The brand has also won the Collaborator of the Year award at the FN Achievement Awards for the Fenty partnership and Amina Muaddi won a PETA Vegan Award in 2024 for Best Vegan Heels in the Fashion category for her Brito Slipper heels made from synthetic materials (plexiglass, TPU). Beyond that, the brand features in “most powerful women” lists (by WWD and Footwear News) and has been celebrated for its influence among celebrities and in popular culture.
REFERENCES
- “Her Fans Want to Walk in Her Shoes”. The New York Times.
- “How Amina Muaddi, Hollywood’s Favorite Footwear Designer, Masters Eclectic Style”. Vogue.
- “Sex Sells: The Emerging Designer Behind The Hottest Heels In Hollywood”. Forbes.
- “How Amina Muaddi became an It-brand loved by Rihanna”. Harper’s BAZAAR.
- “Parisienne style inspiration: Inside the wardrobe of Amina Muaddi”. Vogue Paris
- “Oscar Tiye Shoe Designer Shows Us Milan Fashion Week”. ELLE.
- “These Party Shoes Are So Epic They Even Sold Out in Lockdown”. Who What Wear.
- “Meet the Jury of the 2020 Vogue Arabia Fashion Prize, Powered By NEOM”. Vogue Arabia.
- “Haunting Fashion in the Scottish Highlands”. The New York Times.
- “Bella Hadid Wore Amina Muaddi’s ‘Favorite Shoes’ on the Alexandre Vauthier Runway”. www.yahoo.com.
- “Kim Kardashian completes daring look with Amina Muaddi heels”. Arab News.
- “Kylie Jenner spotted in Amina Muaddi designs”. Arab News.
- “‘Everything you think Rihanna would be, she’s that’ – Fenty insiders tell all”. The Guardian.
- “Amina Muaddi And A$AP Rocky’s AWGE Just Collab-ed On A Dynamic Collection”. Harper’s Bazaar Singapore.
- “The Neiman Marcus Awards Are Back”. Forbes.
- “Amina Muaddi promotes ‘fuzzy’ collection”. Arab News.
- “2018 Footwear News Achievement Awards”. Fairchild LIVE.
Contact with business owner
Your request has been submitted successfully.
Own or work here?
Claim Now!
Claim Now!