Jackie of Gen Z: How Rama Duwaji’s Style and Vision Shaped Mamdani’s Historic Campaign From Behind the Curtain

In the crowded subway car traveling from Astoria to City Hall on a rainy February morning, Rama Duwaji wore a white gown with knee-high boots, flowers in one hand and Zohran Mamdani’s hand in the other. The intimate scene—captured by photographer Kara McCurdy—would become emblematic of New York City’s incoming first couple: unconventional, unpretentious, and distinctly modern.

Nine months later, on election night, Duwaji would once again make a deliberate fashion statement that revealed the careful thought behind her public appearances. As her husband claimed victory as New York’s first Muslim mayor, the 28-year-old illustrator appeared onstage in a square-neck, laser-cut denim top from Zeid Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian designer based in London. She layered the piece over a black skirt by New York Fashion Week regular Ulla Johnson, and added earrings by jeweler Eddie Borgo.

The choice of Hijazi—whose work, according to his website, blends his Palestinian heritage with Middle Eastern craftsmanship and couture elements —was no accident. In a campaign where Duwaji deliberately avoided the spotlight, her clothing spoke volumes.

Harper’s Bazaar noted that Duwaji’s style is similar to many other young artists you might encounter walking down the street in Manhattan or Brooklyn: knee-high cowboy boots with boxy shorts and a bateau-neck tank top, for example, or oversized white button-downs. The bride wore a vintage-style white lace dress and black flat boots for her City Hall wedding, which have become her signature style—she also wore them on election day, according to the Spanish publication ARA.

The Invisible Hand Behind the Campaign

While Duwaji’s fashion choices have garnered attention, her most significant contribution to Mamdani’s historic victory remained largely invisible to the public. According to CNN, Duwaji helped finalize the campaign’s brand identity and worked on the final version of the campaign’s iconography and font, which showcases a distinct blend of colors easily identifiable to New Yorkers: Metrocard orange-yellow, New York Mets blue for shadow drops and backgrounds, and splashes of firehouse red. The font calls back to a time of bold-yellow bodega signs calling out to customers.

Perhaps her most famous work is Mamdani’s campaign logo and branding. A distinct yellow “Zohran” with a red drop shadow, set against a Democratic blue background, has become instantly recognizable to New Yorkers in recent months The Statehouse News Bureau, Newsweek reported.

Mamdani, whose mayoral bid has been powered by his use of social media, also credits Duwaji with improving the campaign’s digital sensibilities, according to CNN.

A Deliberate Choice to Remain Unseen

Several months before their City Hall ceremony, Mamdani and Duwaji discussed how his plans to run for mayor could potentially change their lives, limit their privacy and likely thrust Duwaji into the public eye, according to a person familiar with the couple granted anonymity to share private details.

Though she avoided traditional campaign events, Duwaji has been present during key moments and has advised behind the scenes on social media and campaign iconography. 

In the year that Mamdani campaigned for mayor, she has been a major source of support, even if he falls asleep on the couch as they try to get through “Temptation Island” and the “Mission Impossible” series in 15- to 30-minute increments, CNN reported.

Despite her behind-the-scenes influence, Duwaji hasn’t stumped for Mamdani, hasn’t done a joint television appearance or agreed to a splashy magazine profile. And hardly anything on her Instagram page, where she promotes her artwork depicting Middle Eastern women and the plight of Palestinians, suggests that she even knows Mamdani, aside from one post on the day of the June Democratic primary.

On primary day, she wrote in the caption of a carousel of photos showing the couple together, a photo of herself voting early and a photo of Mamdani as a boy: “Couldn’t possibly be prouder.”

Strategic Public Moments

Though she avoided traditional campaign events, Duwaji has been present during key moments and has advised behind the scenes on social media and campaign iconography. She tagged along as Mamdani cast his primary vote early in the day, when many observers still thought he was unlikely to beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and joined Mamdani onstage when he delivered his victory speech that night.

She accompanied Mamdani to his most recent appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” And she was in the crowd, sitting alongside more than 10,000 people at a packed Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, to watch Mamdani make his closing argument at a rally headlined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, CNN reported.

In September, she sat front row at Rachel Scott’s Diotima show during New York Fashion Week, according to Harper’s Bazaar, demonstrating her support for American designers.

An Artist First

Duwaji was born on June 30, 1997, in Houston, Texas, to Syrian Muslim parents from Damascus. Her father is a software developer and her mother is a doctor. The family moved to Dubai when she was nine years old, according to her Wikipedia entry.

Throughout her career, her illustrations have been featured in The New Yorker and The Washington Post, as well as at BBC, Apple, and Tate Modern.

When right-wing critics attacked Duwaji during the campaign, Mamdani defended her in an Instagram post, writing: “Rama isn’t just my wife, she’s an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms.”

Redefining Political Style

Marie Claire observed that Duwaji’s outfit on election night reads like an atypical choice for a politician’s spouse: Think of a first lady, and your mind will likely go to Jackie Kennedy-esque skirt suits or the J.Crew sweaters of Michelle Obama’s era at the White House. Even if the person getting dressed doesn’t identify as a conservative politically, their clothing tends to read more modest than modern.

Harper’s Bazaar’s analysis suggested that Duwaji is inspiring young people in Chicago, New York, and around the world to see and think beyond a sheath dress and a suit.

As Duwaji prepares to become New York City’s first Gen Z first lady on January 1, 2026, her approach—blending artistic vision with political purpose, personal style with cultural messaging, and deliberate visibility with strategic absence—signals a new paradigm for political spouses. Her fashion choices, like her campaign contributions, speak clearly: she will shape history on her own terms.

This story, conceptualized and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk, was aggregated by AI from several news reports.