Mia Khalifa on being more than “great tits” and overcoming internalised racism and misogyny

Everyone is obsessed with Mia Khalifa. Whether it’s the mainstream media discussing her views on marriage, sharing her latest swimming pool selfies, or her legions of social media fans (over 65 million and counting  across Insta and TikTok alone) hanging on her every word and outfit choice. Now, she adds the title of jewellery designer to her resume as she partners with design collaborator Sara Burn (Virgil Abloh, Kanye West, Mary Kantrantazou) to bring delicately sexy body adornments to the masses. 

Khalifa has been on quite the personal journey, navigating her way from porn stardom to TikTok sensation to feminist role model and now business woman too. Here she sits down with HUNGER to discuss the challenges she faced along the way… 

You’ve been described as everything from a jewellery designer, fashion muse and feminist activist to sports writer and social media sensation. Which of these ‘hats’ is your favourite and least favourite to wear?

What I’m most grateful for is the ability to even have all of these hats. I’ve been lucky enough in life to make a living out of all my passions, esoteric or otherwise. My favourite hat to wear is just me, just “Sarah Joe” because I’m a culmination of all of those things – well, the ones that aren’t as conceited at least.

Tell us about Sheytan – what inspired the collection and was jewellery always on your radar as the thing you wanted to most pursue? 

Jewellery is something Sara and I are passionate about. We collect and have our own stories to tell about each piece we own; with Sara’s experience with lingerie it made sense for this to be the idea that we run with initially. We wanted a collection that blurred the lines between intimate apparel and jewellery. We can adorn our bodies for ourselves alone in the way we might pick out a pair of silk knickers just for ourselves. Why limit the parts of the body that we dress? We offer decorations for hands, ankles, feet, chest, why stop at just the neck and wrists! We have designed thongs with jewellery type details and thongs that can be worn both in and out of the water! Homeware and lounge wear is on the range plan too. Our ‘Sheytan World’ is not limited to jewellery.

What’s been your journey with jewellery up until now? Is it something you remember from early life in Lebanon and the Middle East, where gold and jewels hold such prominence?

It’s always been on my radar as something I would have my hand in commercially or otherwise. From the day I was born, jewellery, specifically gold jewellery, has been a huge part of my culture, and as I got older I started growing my own collection. Sheytan was simply born from the obvious: do what you love.

How did you know that Sara Burn was the one to do this with? 

She doesn’t believe ‘no’ is an answer. She doesn’t discount people for their experience, and she moves based on her intuition. Her experience didn’t hurt though, I had to lock her in when I got the chance!

Sheytan translates as ‘Devil’ in Arabic, but leans more into trickster, rebel or sometimes even ‘cheeky devil’ in other languages such as Punjabi – how do these other translations resonate with your personality? And are there parts of your personality that we (as the public) rarely get to see?

It means rebel in Punjabi???? THAT IS FUCKING AMAZING, I love it!!! Parts of my personality? That’s my whole personality, I don’t hide very much, I think the things people would be most surprised to find out about me are the more mundane, because all of the pearl-clutching is online for the world to see.

Are there things about you and your personality that would surprise people who might have you down as an extrovert? 

I’m an INFP-T that’s 90% introverted. If you know what that means, you’ll know everything about me (also I’m a triple air sign with a stellium in Aquarius).

You said in a recent interview that  “I’ve stopped trying to dress like a white girl, I’ve stopped trying to do my make-up like a white girl”. What does this mean exactly? And why is this important?

The moment we start embracing the colours that suit us, and wearing culturally significant garments and presenting ourselves on the outside to reflect who we are, that’s a huge shift. You’ve gone through the canon event of a brown girl wishing she was white and dressing and acting as such – the moment we wake up from the daydream we feel like we have so much time to make up for, and it makes us feel a little guilty for ever shunning who we are. My confidence grew when I stopped trying to be someone I’m not.

You’ve said you’ve only felt comfortable in your skin for a short time, what have been the biggest hurdles in achieving this?

My mental hurdles with internalised racism and misogyny. Once I made progress in my therapy journey I started to find all other aspects of my mental health falling into place, including confidence, self love, acceptance. Everything I doubted in myself was replaced with intuition.  

What’s your advice for people still navigating this space of being comfortable with the way they look, especially those from minority groups?

It’s difficult to make that uphill climb, surround yourself with supportive people or at the very least, cut people’s access to you off if they hold you back or if they actively put you down.

How do you feel about being a role model to women? Especially, when it comes to your body positivity stance, is it a position that you’re comfortable with or surprised about? 

Slightly surprised considering my uphill battle with my own image but I’ve found that that’s probably the reason why. It’s something I’m hyper-aware of, and always feel a responsibility over. Not retouching my images, requesting minimal retouching on commercial jobs, not using filters and being transparent about my procedures, because at the end of the day, I’m selling an image and I want it to be a genuine one – because that’s the only way to succeed in my opinion.

Who are your role models and the people you look up to?

Amina Muaddi, Katie Vada, Sara Burn, Chiara Ferragni, Grece Ghanem, Bella Haddid, Muna El-Kurd, Malala.

How have you incorporated feeling comfortable in your skin and body into your fashion and beauty looks? 

I think they go hand-in-hand. I love the glimmer of my chest chain in my cleavage, or the delicateness of a hand chain through a long sleeve sweater. It’s not about showing skin and feeling sexy, it’s like wearing a sexy Fleur du Mal set, even if no one sees it, I know it’s there and it makes me walk taller.

When it comes to fashion and beauty, what’s your go to style?

I’m a Barbie!! In the sense that every day I wake up and stand in front of my plastic closet and ponder which personality I’m going to have that day. The most exciting part about beauty and fashion is its transformative ability!

What’s the best and worst things about being Mia Khalifa?

Best: Great tits. Worst: I’m more than great tits 🙁

What are you most happy about at the moment and what would you change if you could?

I’m most happy about feeling like I’m finally settling into Miami, where I moved to last year, and I think I would change the humidity and mosquitoes if I could.

What’s your perfect day in Miami?

Wake up, order my lavender latte from Panther Coffee, light a joint, pick up El Bagel with my bestie Jonathan, go for a long aimless drive with the sunroof down blasting Karol G. Then dinner at The New Schnitzel House, home by 8pm and playing records until 11pm when I make tea and get in bed with a movie on.

Finally, what’s next for Mia Khalifa?

I gotta go learn the lyrics to this new Karol G album before her concert, byeeeeeee!!!!!