DUBAI: Jordanian-Romanian footwear designer Amina Muaddi took to social media this week to pay tribute to her stepfather, who died a year ago.
Muaddi, who also celebrated her 35th birthday this week, uploaded a mirror picture of herself and her dog Alfie. In the photo, she is wearing a nude dress and a pair of Perspex wedges from her own label.
She captioned the snap: “Dressed up for my daddy today. One year in heaven, forever in my heart. Alfie felt my energy and came to give me some puppy love. Thank you for all the warm birthday wishes.”
She announced on Instagram last year that her stepfather had passed away. Captioning a cheerful picture from her childhood, she wrote: “You made the most noble choice: to be the father of a child that is not yours. I prayed to God that he’d take my tears and use them as fuel to give you more life. I will miss you forever daddy. My heart is shattered.”
The shoemaker was born to a Jordanian biological father and a Romanian mother, but it is unclear where her step-father was from.
Her family moved to Amman a few weeks after she was born.
Her parents separated when she was six and she returned to Romania with her mother.
“I wasn’t aware of what my mom did to help me as a child and it took me years to understand. The opportunities I have today are mostly because she took me out of Jordan. Not because it’s not a good place to live, but because my dad is very conservative and probably would not have liked for me to have a career,” she once explained to Vogue Arabia.
Today, Muaddi is at the helm of one of the most in-demand footwear labels in the world.
The designer launched her first shoe brand, Oscar Tiye, nearly a decade ago when she was 26.
She launched the Amina Muaddi label in August 2018.
Her designs have been worn by everyone from Kim Kardashian to Rihanna, with whom she has collaborated on two footwear collections.
