Who is Rama Duwaji? All about Zohran Mamdani's wife and the strength behind his success

Dubai: Rama Duwaji isn’t a Hollywood star. She’s an illustrator, animator and ceramicist who prefers her art to do the talk. But the moment she stepped beside her husband, Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York City, she became internet gold. A stylish top. A strong stance. A fresh face everyone noticed.

Rama Duwaji was born in Houston in 1997 to Syrian parents. When she was nine, her family moved to Dubai. She studied design in Qatar first, then finished her bachelor's degree in Virginia. In 2021, she moved to New York and got her master's in illustration in 2024.

She makes art illustrations, animations, and ceramics that explore what it means to be Arab, to move between cultures, to be a woman navigating politics and identity.

Big names have hired her: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Apple, the Tate Modern. In a recent interview with the magazine Yung, she explained her approach simply: "These days, I focus on making art about my experiences and the things I care about."

Rama Duwaji isn't famous in the traditional sense. She's an artist who lets her work speak. But the night her husband Zohran Mamdani won his race to become New York City's mayor, something shifted. She stood beside him wearing a custom denim top, and suddenly everyone was paying attention.

On November 4, after winning the mayoral race against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani thanked his wife during his victory speech. "And to my incredible wife, Rama, hayati" (the Arabic word meaning 'my life') he told the crowd. "There is no one I would rather have by my side in this moment, and in every moment."

The top wasn't random. Palestinian-Jordanian designer Zeid Hijazi made it, complete with tatreez embroidery—traditional Palestinian stitching. In that single choice, she went from being 'the mayor's wife' to someone making a statement. Social media erupted. People weren't just noticing what she wore. They were noticing what it meant.

Her husband, Zohran Mamdani, posted publicly: “Rama isn’t just my wife — she’s an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms.” 

Her work deals with hard things like displacement, identity, politics. Growing up between Dubai and the U.S. shaped how she sees the world, and it shows up in everything she creates. "With so many people being pushed out and silenced by fear," she said in 2025, "all I can do is use my voice about what's happening in the US and Palestine and Syria."

Duwaji didn't say much during the campaign, but the press noticed her anyway. Vogue and The New York Times both wrote about her. The Times' fashion critic pointed out that she clearly knows how powerful images can be. Friends and fans have thrown around big comparisons such as 'Princess Diana and Audrey Hepburn' often pointing to her pixie haircut and her go-to knee-high black boots as proof of her distinct style.

People keep calling her a "baddie" which is internet speak for someone who's effortlessly cool and unapologetically themselves. She's not trying too hard. She's not performing. She's just... there, being smart and stylish and aware, and somehow that's revolutionary.

Fashion sites are already calling her a Gen-Z icon. The internet doesn't just like her, it wants to study her, copy her, understand how she makes it look so easy.

Here's what makes her more interesting: she didn't just show up for photo ops. She helped design her husband's campaign visuals. She kept her own Instagram focused on her art, not his politics. She stayed in her lane while still being fully present.

Fans are saying that seeing that kind of confidence in someone is rare. She isn't screaming for attention rather whispering and that is what makes her stand out.

Starting January 2026, she'll officially be New York City's First Lady. But don't expect the usual script. Her next chapter looks more like continuing her art, deepening her voice and keeping the internet watching

The writer is a trainee at Gulf News.