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Fidan Novruzova’s Cult-Favorite Havva Boots Were Just the Beginning
As a student at Central Saint Martins, in London, Fidan Novruzova expected to start her career by joining a Parisian heritage house. Her 2019 thesis collection was a portfolio for potential employers featuring retro-futuristic looks reminiscent of The Jetsons: skirts with stiffened hems that appeared permanently windblown; tops with cartoonishly sharp shoulders; and heavy knee-high “Havva” boots with a sculptural square toe. But soon after she presented it, requests from store buyers and private customers started pouring in—including one from Bella Hadid, who bought the boots over Instagram. A year after graduating—and with just a Burberry internship as professional experience—Novruzova officially launched her label.
In March, Novruzova, who is 31, presented her 11th collection, for fall 2026, at a cocktail party in her Paris showroom. She was inspired by the 20th-century Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka’s saturated palette of scarlets, emeralds, and teals, and by the way the artist projected herself onto her subjects. “Her paintings were about the affluent women and socialites of the 1920s, but they all look like her,” explains Novruzova. Lempicka’s process felt familiar to her. “You have women around you who inspire you—your muses—but at the same time, it’s still about what you want to wear yourself.” She has a penchant for jackets, and presented drop-waist trenches, tuxedo-lapel leather bombers, and boleros with stiff architectural collars. There were also riding trousers tucked into over-the-knee iterations of the Havva boot, and polo shirts with collars so exaggerated they almost resembled capes. Although her designs still have the experimental, futuristic feel of those from her college days, now “every piece is something that can be incorporated into a modern woman’s wardrobe,” she says.
Novruzova grew up in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, with Azerbaijani parents. Moldova isn’t exactly known as a high-fashion hub, but Novruzova spent much of her late teens on the Internet, where she discovered the work of Azzedine Alaïa and Yohji Yamamoto. Although she’s the only person in her family to work in a creative field, she says her mother instilled in her “the importance of dressing well,” and her heritage often figures into her work. The brand’s initial logo was a pomegranate, an emblem of prosperity across the South Caucasus, and her first collection was inspired by 1970s Azerbaijani starlets. Early on, she designed a dress made of raffia crocheted to look like wild rue, drawing on a west Asian folk belief passed down through her mother and grandmother: Burning the plant with salt while praying wards off the evil eye.
Novruzova’s designs start with materials, not sketches. She sources fabric from Italy and leather from a tannery in Istanbul, but her production remains rooted in Chisinau, which she visits often. She still works with the same family of shoemakers who produced the original Havva boot for her graduate collection; their studio is just minutes away from her parents’ house. Like many young designers, Novruzova is concerned about sustainability. For her, a sustainable brand doesn’t simply work with deadstock and upcycled fabrics, but focuses on designs that last. “The versatility of the clothes is what matters,” says Novruzova. “They should feel relevant over time.” When we met, she wore a black velvet jacket with a mandarin collar from the brand’s fall 2024 collection, as well as ballet flats from spring of that year, both of which still felt current.
Six years in, Novruzova’s brand is steadily growing. In 2024, she was a semifinalist for the LVMH Prize, making her the first Moldovan designer ever to get nominated. She’s expanding her brand’s footwear offerings, which currently consist of seasonal iterations of her Havva boot. Last year, she had her first major collaboration, working with Asics to turn its Gel-Cumulus 16 into a fashionable but still functional sneaker. (Imagine a running shoe with tassels and oversize tongues crossed with a classic men’s brogue.) Her only brief for the future: something “different,” she says. “I’m loyal to my aesthetic, but what’s important for me is to never put myself in a box.”
Hair by Tosh at Artlist Paris; Makeup by Elena Bettanello at Julian Watson; Models: Kaat Van Herbruggen at Noah Mgmt; Sabryna Oliveira at Oui Management; Yuliana Perez at Silent Models; Casting by Ashley Brokaw; On-Set Producer: Louise Akani; Photo Assistant: Matheus Agudelo; Digital Technician: Andreas Strunz; Retouching: Split Peas; Fashion Assistant: Lisa Fulchignoni; Hair Assistant: Lucile Bertrand; Makeup Assistant: Flavie Terracol.
