From Consumer to Collaborator

Words Uyi Ilebs

Designer collaborations have become more and more popular over the last few years, with footwear slowly on the rise. Uyi Llebs tells us more about what is going on in the fashion industry including; Amina Muaddi, an emerging distinguished designer who is currently in the limelight in the fashion industry.

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Designer collaborations have become more and more popular over the last few years, with footwear slowly on the rise. Brands such as Dior x Nike air Jordan and JW Anderson collaboration with converse are popping up all over the industry and it seems Fenty and Amina Muaddi have followed suit because they too have created a footwear capsule collection featuring 7 pairs of sandal heels. Fenty are no strangers to collaborations, for most of their consumers this collaboration was a no-brainer with Amina's innovative designer's and Rihanna, Fenty CEO an avid wearer of Muaddi's footwear it was a perfect match.

Unlike the equally popular brands around Jordan, Romanian Italian designer, arguable rose out of nowhere and became an overnight digital enigma. After studying at the European Institute of Design in Milan, she went on to debut her styling career, styling stints for L’Uomo Vogue and GQ US. Later she co-founded her first footwear brand Oscar Tiye and moved to Paris collaborating with French couturier Alexandre Vauthier launching his shoe line. Amina Muaddi is one of the emerging, influential new age designers catching the eye of many luxury and high street brands. Although still in the early stages of her brand, she has managed to travel the high ranks of society from monarchs such as Princess Rania of Jordan to a list celebrities like Kim Kardashian. There is no telling what heights this brand will grow to in the coming years. 

Which other brands have their eye on Muaddi's designs? Has Amina now set a president for other more established fashion houses to collaborate with up and coming brands?

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Although the collection gained a lot of initial traction, the shoes themselves received mixed reviews with online reviews from Brian Van Cooten saying "it's giving me very fast fashion." "When I look at them, they just don't excite me, I am going to need them to go back to the drawing board and do this collaboration again or Amina just stick to your shoes, stick to what you do because you are killing the game but we didn't need this collaboration."

With the capsule launching during a slightly eased lock down period and precautionary measures still being followed, we were patiently waiting to see how the young designer would showcase the capsules collection. The shift from traditional fashion shows to launch a collection has since been transformed into a fight for the most innovative way for brands to showcase their collection. Muaddi chose a bohemian maze style runway in an isolated wheat or barley field where the pair's capsule collection was featured.

Uyi Ilebs - Creative Director & Digital Marketing Specialist