The reinvention of Mia Khalifa

Rejecting convention and challenging the status quo, the former adult actor has become fashion's beloved troublemaker. In a candid conversation, the social media star talks about infiltrating the inner circle. 

- SHRIYA ZAMINDAR

MIA KHALIFA’S RELAUNCH as a verified fashion girl has been a baptism by fire. Headlines have scrutinised her every move in the past and the comments section of her Instagram can feel like a battleground. But Khalifa’s new reign does not need further justification than the influx of show invites and brand engagements that have landed at her doorstep. Moving on from a career in the adult movie industry, she had a front-row seat to Paris Fashion Week in 2023, kitted in archival Jean Paul Gaultier and Schiaparelli.

“It’s mostly the girls and gays,” Khalifa says, a nod to her millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok. A day before her first-ever Vogue shoot, for which she styled herself using clothes from her own closet, we discuss this new chapter of her life over a Zoom call. Khalifa appears on screen, in pink pyjamas that match her bleached eyebrows, bubbling with the energy of someone who’s downed three cortados before noon. In her cosy home, she is simply Sarah Joe, a cat mum who loves her mornings and whose living room is dotted with relatable, homely objects including a mushroom-shaped lamp and coffee-table books, several of which are on the art of tarot.

“Adversity builds character,” replies Khalifa, when asked how she deals with the haters online. “I tell myself I have made it through a lot worse. It’s mostly a mental thing. For the parts that aren’t, they make beta blockers,” she jokes. “I take it in my stride. Life doesn’t get hard when it’s about to get easier, it gets hard when things are changing for the better.”