Aminah Abdul Jillil is an upcoming fashion designer and experienced professional dancer. She has danced for big names in the music industry. Now, like designer Amina Muaddi, celebrities are wearing her bold statement shoes. Jillil is based in Las Vegas.
Jillil is a 2019 Best in Black Fashion award recipient. In 2019 she also won Essence accessory designer of the year.
Aminah Jillil: dancer and designer
Before designing, Jillil was a professional dancer and gymnast. She danced with the likes of Britney Spears and Janet Jackson, and performed with Cirque du Soleil. Jillil pursued her passion for design while working full time.
“While still performing and working as a dancer, in between jobs I enrolled in a fashion course at the local college that included illustration, sewing, color analysis, etc,” she told Fustany Magazine. “Years later, I decided to launch my brand while performing on a world tour, it was crazy trying to do both, so last year I dedicated my full life to my brand to see what I could do with it, to see where I could take it, and I love it! It’s a dream come true.”
Jillil launched her self-named luxury brand in 2012.
“It started out as an outlet because I was dancing and rehearsing a lot,” according to Yahoo! “It was an itch I need to scratch.”
For Jillil, fashion design was a natural segue from the world of dance.
“The art world is quite vast, be it the performing art world, fashion, music, etc. and as a dancer/performer, they all kind of inter-mingle,” she explained. “We’re constantly exposed to costumes, makeup, fashion, and the creative process of others.”
While she known for her statement pumps, Jillil’s first pair of shoes were sandals.
“It had a huge buckle strap around the ankle,” she recalled. “I’d gotten my inspiration from a belt that I saw, and decided to make a pair of sandals out of it. Actually, I bought the belt and cut it up to make that pair of sandals.”
“Once I had my hand made samples together I searched out a shoe maker who specialized in custom shoes,” she told Fashion Steele NYC. “He turned my hand made, living room creations into real samples.”
80s fashion inspires Aminah Jillil
Jillil also designs clothes and accessories. She sells directly to consumers rather than through retailers.
“No one wanted to take a chance on a small brand,” she said. Jillil now sells to over 50 countries.
Jillil is originally from Anchorage, Alaska. She takes inspiration from various sources, including nostalgia.
“For me, because I spend so much time in the music and dance industry, and I grew up in the 80s, I would say a lot of music videos, 80s fashion, is a really big inspiration for me,” she told Essence Magazine. “I find myself using a lot of clutter and chunkiness.”
“I can remember loving Jody Wately, Cindy Lauper and Madonna because of their outfits!” recalled Jillil. “The messy-funky…a thousand bracelets on one arm look and the rolled-down ankle booties that bulk around the ankles.”
Her signature look is a large bow on the ankle.
Celebrities wear Aminah Jillil’s designs
Pop singer Rihanna wore one of Jillil’s designs in the music video for her 2012 single “Where Have You Been.” She later sported a pair of the designer’s heeled rope sandals to a 2022 New Year’s Eve party.
In February 2022, the R&B singer Ashanti flaunted her style with a pair of Jillil’s boots. She wore the 3” black thigh high stretch boots at the AFC Championship performance in Kansas City.
Aminah Jillil Thigh High Stretch Boot 3″ Heel
Other celebrities that have worn the brand include film producer Yandy Smith and Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross.
Smith chose Jillil’s black bowed high heels for her bridesmaids at her wedding in 2015.
The luxury designer has been successful even through the pandemic.
“During these times, people are still buying the heels,” Jillil told Footwear News. “They still buy the glamour and the studs.”
“When the pandemic first hit, we were pretty nervous and scared. After that, business just flourished.”
Peruse Jillil’s bold feminine designs here.
