What Should a Democratic Socialist Wear? Enter Mayor Zohran Mamdani and First Lady Rama Duwaji

This afternoon, Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s youngest mayor “in generations,” to quote Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s opening remarks at the ceremony. The 34-year-old is also the first South Asian and Muslim to take on the role, which he underscored by taking his oath with two family Qurans during both of his swearing-ins, one held privately at midnight on January 1 and a second, public one held in the afternoon at City Hall Plaza.

In his inaugural speech, Mamdani vowed to govern “expansively and audaciously,” and said that New York will not be a city “governed only by the one percent,” or “a tale of two cities, the rich versus the poor.” He was sworn in by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who thanked New York City for electing Mamdani as mayor, and reminded the crowd that his ideas are “not radical.”

And yet, Mamdani and his First Lady, 28-year-old illustrator Rama Duwaji, have broken the political mold. Not solely because of Mamdani’s perhaps not radical but inarguably progressive ideas—to, say, tax the rich or enforce a rent freeze—but also because of their ages and backgrounds, which have been underscored repeatedly by the media as cause of celebration or with Islamophobic dismay.

Mamdani was born in Uganda to Indian parents, and Duwaji in Texas to Syrian Muslim progenitors. They are young and progressive, and they also look the part. The balancing act moving forward, as it pertains to their style now that they’re embedded in the political establishment, will be to negotiate between the newfound gloss of their public image while keeping it consistent with their politics.

When Mamdani celebrated his election in November of 2025, Duwaji donned a top by London-based Palestinian-Jordanian designer Zeid Hijazi paired with a skirt by the New York-born and -based Ulla Johnson, who is known for her bohemian flair. She managed the task of looking both like a first lady and a 20-something woman dressing for a special occasion with aplomb. Back then, she had been advised—free of charge—by stylist Bailey Moon, who dresses the likes of Morgan Spector and Cristin Milioti and is most widely known for having worked with Jill Biden and her family throughout president Joe Biden’s administration.

Rama Duwaji and Zohran Mamdani on election night in November, 2025.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Moon’s role advising Mamdani and Duwaji was revealed by Puck soon after election night—it had been a well-kept industry secret, as had been his work with the Biden family—and a flurry of headlines discussed the need for a democratic socialist mayor to work with, in the words of the New York Post, a “swanky celeb fashion stylist.” Moon is no longer advising Mamdani and Duwaji.

Instead, when Mamdani, who wears suits by Suit Supply and once told GQ that Uniqlo was one of is go-to brands, chose Thursday to wear a tie by the New Delhi-based designer Kartik Kumra of the label Kartik Research, he was advised by the stylist and former Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who revealed her role and confirmed what the couple wore to the proceedings with a post on her newsletter. Kumra operates a store in the Lower East Side and shows his collections during Paris Fashion Week, yet his approach at making fashion is singular in that he personally works with a network of artisans in his home country of India. Karefa-Johnson also pointed out that internet sleuths recognized the tie as a nod to New York’s single other democratic socialist mayor, Firello La Guardia, whose nickname was “The Little Flower.”

Decorated with a jacquard motif from Assam in Northeast India, the tie also served the purpose of allowing Mamdani to represent in a subtle yet meaningful way—this is, after all, the purpose of fashion within the political sphere: To provide context, to send a message, without doing so too brazenly, just like Duwaji did on election night by wearing a Palestinian designer.

The opportunity to work with Mamdani, Karefa-Johnson wrote, came about when she received a call from Mamdani’s senior advisor Zara Rahim, whom she also described as her “longtime friend.”

Team Mamdani faces a unique challenge in that it must ensure that the mayor and the first lady set forth a proper, consistent image, while trying to bypass unnecessary discourse from his detractors and critics. A lesson they might have learned from the media coverage around Moon’s role is that, should they choose to work with a stylist—which they surely must to ensure consistent messaging and to facilitate the process of procuring pieces on loan for Duwaji—reporting and criticism is unavoidable. While Moon fit the bill in terms of his known discretion and acumen in the political space, Karefa-Johnson is an appropriate choice in that she is a well-regarded and connected fashion editor who is outspoken in her politics, which closely align with Mamdani’s. Karefa-Johnson is known for being generally anti-establishment, and she also understands first hand the nuances of living visibly and publicly as a woman of color. Should the right-wing media come looking for something to say about Duwaji’s new stylist, there should be no surprises for either camp.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, Zohran Mamdani, and Rama Duwaji.

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For the midnight swearing in at a long-closed subway station beneath City Hall, Duwaji donned a vintage Balenciaga coat from Albright Fashion Library and archival earrings from New York Vintage, both selected and rented by her with Karefa-Johnson. Duwaji is known to be an avid thrifter, having recently told New York Magazine that she used to have a Google Maps folder with “50 different places” she had found and saved. By choosing to rent a vintage piece, Duwaji is affirming that she favors sustainability and circularity in fashion, like many others her age. (It is also generally more affordable to rent or thrift vintage luxury than purchasing it.)

The coat was paired with tailored black shorts by The Frankie Shop, which retail for $139, and boots by Miista, which retail for $630. Karefa-Johnson made a point to write in her newsletter that the boots were borrowed from the brand, not purchased, preemptively addressing possible criticism the first lady is wearing a costly item while her husband speaks of standing with the working people of New York City.

Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji

BG048/Bauer-Griffin

For the second swearing in this afternoon, Duwaji wore a custom-made ensemble by Cynthia Merhej, the Lebanse-Palestinian designer behind the label Renaissance Renaissance. The piece, a brown coat dress with faux fur trims, was an “adaptation,” according to the stylist, of a piece from Merhej’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Once more Duwaji has chosen to speak with her fashion, choosing an independent woman designer from the Middle East who comes from a family of clothes-makers. Merhej also recently worked with costume designer Miyako Bellizzi to outfit Chloë Sevigny for Durga Chew-Bose’s debut film, a remake of the 1958 French classic Bonjour Tristesse.

Karefa-Johnson did not disclose what the Mayor was wearing, though his style is simpler and much less flashy than that of his predecessors. (Former mayor Eric Adams was sitting in the crowd wearing a $720 Fendi scarf.)

Duwaji looked the part of first lady while circumventing pearl necklaces and pant suits. She, most importantly, looked like herself, while making a clear statement of what matters to her and where her politics lie, even when she’s not delivering remarks. Even if the public generally believes that fashion is inconsequential to a political figure, these choices matter. Hillary Clinton, for one, was heavily criticized for wearing a Giorgio Armani jacket with a price tag in the thousands of dollars back in 2016. First Lady Melania Trump has also received flack for donning European luxury labels like Dior and McQueen while her husband speaks of reinforcing the American economy. Then-vice-president Kamala Harris, on the other hand, was celebrated for choosing African American designers for the 2021 Inauguration celebrations.

“I love fashion, and I love being creative and putting things together and styling things,” Duwaji told New York Magazine. “Speaking out about Palestine, Syria, Sudan—all these things are really important to me,” she added. Like her husband, and her generation, Duwaji understands something crucial to our existence today: Everything is political, from how we act and where we shop to how we dress and who we choose to work with.