Wolford and Amina Muaddi are joining forces in the innerwear world.
The European innerwear brand and the Jordan-Romanian shoe designer launched the limited-edition Amina Muaddi x Wolford collection today.
Wolford, which sells everything from lingerie to beachwear and ready-to-wear apparel, is trying to get back to its roots as an innerwear brand — and hoping Muaddi can help.
“Our DNA is that we create skiwear,” Silvia Azzali, Wolford’s chief commercial officer, told WWD, explaining that by “skinwear” she is referring to “the first layer that touches the skin,” such as leggings, hosiery and bodysuits.
“We are a skin-to-skin brand; the layer closest to the skin. You use Wolford to complete your outfit in the best manner. When you buy an amazing dress, let’s say from Chanel, normally you combine the dress in some way with Wolford. It’s the best way to emphasize your dress.
“We don’t want to become a complete fashion brand,” she continued. “We don’t want to make [more] ready-to-wear, because it is not our DNA. We want to continue to make the best skinwear in the world.”
Leggings, after all, were one of the strongest categories throughout the pandemic, increasing nearly 100 percent in 2020, year-over-year, Azzali said.
The 71-year-old company, which is based in Austria, decided to work with Muaddi because part of its growth strategy is to elevate female designers.
“Amina represents a modern designer, a young designer,” Azzali said. “She’s well-known among fashion and trend seekers and this is a target that we definitely want to attract. On the other hand, Wolford can offer a very strong global retail and wholesale network to boost visibility and business.
“Amina designs shoes,” she continued. “But she also has a really good understanding of the body of the woman.”
The shoe designer left Oscar Tiye, the shoe brand she cofounded in 2012 with two business partners, in May 2017.
Muaddi launched her namesake shoe label the following year. She’s also designed shoes for Alexandre Vauthier and Rihanna’s Fenty.
“I’ve always been a Wolford fan and client,” Muaddi said. “To me, the brand represents the epitome of quality legwear and bodywear and a symbol of refined femininity.
When they reached out to me for a brand collaboration I agreed to do it right away. I like to create modern products that feel timeless and boost the confidence of the person who wears them and I believe that through this collaboration we were able to bring our collided vision to life.”
The 17-piece Amina Muaddi x Wolford collection includes hosiery, leggings, bodysuits, jumpsuits, socks and a few super-tight dresses. Prices range from $90 for a pair of socks to $4,990 for a catsuit with built-in shoes, while most pieces are under $600.
Items can be purchased at wolfordshop.com and select Wolford stores, along with four special pop-up events around the world: Galeries Lafayette in Paris, opening today; Selfridges in London, opening on July 10; Antonio boutique in Milan, also opening on July 10, and Bergdorf Goodman in New York, opening July 19.
While Azzali said there are many innerwear options on the market today, what sets the Amina Muaddi x Wolford collection apart is that it’s both affordable and meant to last a long time.
“Today, everybody has the essentials. But it’s not so easy to find pieces that are really close to your body and that can be long-lasting,” she explained. “Most collections last for just one season.
Amina Muaddi x Wolford is a collection that you can buy and use for the next 10 to 15 years. It’s simple and iconic at the same time. But, the collection can really make the difference [to an outfit.]”
Wolford has also collaborated with Adidas and last month signed a licensing deal with Delta Galil to create, produce and market an expanded assortment of women’s lingerie and swimwear while leveraging Delta Galil’s technical expertise in the underwear market.
“Delta Galil is a super-strong company and a leader in underwear and beachwear,” Azzali said.
“And if you’re making underwear you need to come from an underwear background. Wolford comes from a bodywear background. We are much better at producing leggings, tights and bodywear.”
In the future, Wolford will continue to collaborate with other designers, but Azzali was tight-lipped about which ones, although she did say a cosmetics collaboration was on the table.
“Cosmetics is another category close to the skin,” she explained.
“And collaborations are part of our brand DNA,” Azzali continued. “Amina is all about the women’s body. And the next collaboration will be about something else that we stand for, but without going out of our DNA.”