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TikTok star Bella Poarch has a range of roles under her belt: influencer, musician, and U.S. Navy veteran. Now, she can add another to her resume: Steve Madden model, following a starring role in the brand’s fall 2022 “Maddenwood” campaign.
Inspired by the glamour of fame and Hollywood, “Maddenwood” utilizes three famous faces as stars: Poarch, “Euphoria” actress Chloe Cherry and musician Latto. The trio is seen in the surreal “Maddenwood” universe through augmented reality, where they appear to wander through streets that feature blossoming gardens, holographic snakes, and plants sprouting lips and eyeballs. As a longtime Madden fan, Poarch was “super excited” to join the project.
Bella Poarch stars in Steve Madden’s ‘Maddenwood’ campaign.
CREDIT: Amar Daved/Courtesy of Steve Madden
“Being on set was so much fun because everything around me was one huge green screen,” Poarch exclusively tells FN. “It really allowed me to truly be my creative self as I knew that the world I was ‘interacting with’ could have literally been anything up to my imagination.”
Poarch’s outfit for the campaign features a lace-trimmed black dress, sheer gloves, and Madden’s new black leather $160 Fantsie boots, a calf-high style with 3.5-inch stacked block heels — all from the designer’s new fall collection, which is available online now. This seems meant to be, as Poarch already favors the fall-ready style for its versatility.
“My go-to shoes for the fall are platforms and boots,” Poarch shares, “because they work for every outfit and any season!”
Bella Poarch stars in Steve Madden’s ‘Maddenwood’ campaign.
CREDIT: Amar Daved/Courtesy of Steve Madden
Madden’s augmented reality campaign marks the latest advancement in fashion’s relationship with technology — where brands have utilized QR codes, the metaverse and NFT’s to reach wider audiences. As someone who’s observed this firsthand, Poarch sees this mix of tech and fashion only continuing in the future, allowing for greater creativity.
“I think that the gap between technology and fashion is now closer than ever before,” Poarch says. “I think innovations like this have [their] place in the future of fashion, as it’s just something we really haven’t seen before — and that’s what fashion is. Fashion is creative, on the cutting edge, and always evolving — just like technology.”
