The Cut has just released its new cover: Rama Duwaji, the new New York City First Lady, photographed by Szilveszter Makó. Like her husband, in just a few days, she will become of the youngest First Ladies in New York City as well as the first Muslim to assume her role. She’s not only a campaign adviser and Arabic coach to NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani but also, as a visual artist, influential in the look and design of the campaign. The Cut credits her with the flare on the Z and R in his logo. The 28-year-old was already infamous long before Mamdani won the primary — for her art.
On a frigid New Year’s Day, New York’s new democratic socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani was sworn in, with his wife, Rama Duwaji, alongside him, grabbing attention for her romantic brown frock coat, trimmed at the hem and cuffs with chocolate faux fur. For political wives, the inauguration coat is an agenda-setter – the first statement on how someone who may or may not have aspired to be a public symbol will navigate the always-tricky, often exasperating act of using clothes to elucidate or complement her husband’s administration.
