Zainab Jiwa is a London-based creator, presenter and interviewer who has become a regular on film premiere red carpets. She is known for method dressing, which means building each outfit around the film she is covering. Forbes named her to its 2025 30 Under 30 Europe list for Media & Marketing, and she has interviewed Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal and Zendaya.
Her route there is unusual. She manages herself, holds a fashion degree, and started by posting about films and costumes during the pandemic. This profile covers her age, background, career, awards and the way she works with studios.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Zainab Jiwa |
| Online Name | ZeeWhatIdid (@zeewhatidid) |
| Profession | Creator, presenter, and interviewer |
| Based In | London |
| Age | 29 (BBC, August 2026); exact birth date not publicly confirmed |
| Education | First Class Honours, University of the Arts London (LCF) |
| Known For | Method dressing and red carpet interviews |
| First Studio Break | Disney’s Moon Knight junket |
| Recognition | Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2025 (Media & Marketing) |
| Notable Interviews | Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, Tom Hiddleston, Zendaya |
| Followers | About 660,000 on TikTok and close to 400,000 on Instagram (BBC) |
| Net Worth | Not publicly confirmed |
| Website | zainabjiwa.com |
Zainab Jiwa’s Age, Background, and Education
The BBC described Zainab Jiwa as 29 years old in August 2026. Her exact birth date has not been publicly confirmed. She lives in Harrow, in northwest London, and the BBC reported a busy household with siblings who drop by, parents who help with wardrobe emergencies and a cat.
Her parents did not expect this career for their daughter, she told the BBC, but she says they are now very supportive.
Fashion came first. She jokes that her interest started before she was born, and she studied fashion, creative direction, styling, and hair and makeup at university. Her website lists a First Class Honours degree from the University of the Arts London (LCF), and says she worked in the university’s marketing team.
Her LinkedIn profile fills in the practical side. In 2019 she led creative direction on PERSONA, a book she printed and bound herself, and the project was exhibited at the OXO Tower Wharf Bargehouse Gallery in London. She also worked as a makeup artist on the 2019 LCF show and as a fashion assistant for Paris Couture Week SS18.
From Lockdown Content to a Disney Interview
Zainab Jiwa’s career began with fandom. As she told Washington Post Creator, she attended premieres as a fan, and lockdown gave her a reason to combine her degree with her hobby. She posted about films and TV shows, the costumes and fashion they inspired, and monthly roundups.
The videos built a community of fellow fans. Once the audience grew and she had shown she knew the material, Disney asked her to help promote Moon Knight, the Marvel series, because she seemed to know Marvel. She says she did it terrified, loved it, and kept going through word of mouth, networking and a showreel.
The BBC adds that she first thought the Disney offer was a scam, and that she cannot bear to rewatch that early junket interview. More studios noticed her soon after.
Today the BBC calls her a full-time creator and presenter. Her website says she has hosted the Wicked world premiere and served as red carpet social host at the BAFTA Film Awards, Britain’s main film awards. Forbes describes her as self-managed.
Method Dressing as a Brand Strategy
Method dressing means matching an outfit to the themes of a film. The BBC notes that Zendaya has made it a red carpet signature, and suggests Zainab is showing that independent creators can hold their own.
The BBC lists several of her looks. For Gladiator II she wore gold armor. For House of the Dragon season two, she wore a red gown by a student designer that featured three faces wearing hijabs. For Spider-Man: Brand New Day, she added spiderweb henna.
A recent viral moment came at the London premiere of The Odyssey. She wore a custom gold gown with a hood, and Zendaya reacted to it in person. Zainab told the BBC she is still in shock, and the TikTok of the exchange reached 19 million views.
The bold looks serve a purpose. She says they help her break the ice with stars, and she told Washington Post Creator that studios sometimes place fashion-focused creators where a photo moment will suit the film’s marketing.
The work is not glamorous behind the scenes. Invitations sometimes arrive the night before, which means a rush to sort a look before traveling to the event, often by public transport. She keeps costs down by reusing items and works with a range of designers and brands.
Modest Fashion as a Creative Constraint
Zainab is Muslim and wears a hijab, and the BBC notes she is often one of the only people covering her hair at premieres. She treats that as part of the fun. She says she enjoys working around covered hair and arms, and describes the process as an effort to “halalify the look.”
She has also been open about the costs. She has worried that dressing modestly could make success harder in the industry, and some critics say her outfits are not modest enough. Her answer is that positive comments outnumber the negative ones, and that inspiring, entertaining or educating people is what counts.
The House of the Dragon gown shows how her method works: the film tie-in also carries a cultural message, which fits her comment that she likes to add culture to everything she does.
How Red Carpet Access Works for Creators
Profiles of creators rarely explain how access works. Zainab Jiwa described it in a Q+A published by Washington Post Creator on September 2, 2026.
A lot of films already skip screenings aimed at creators, she says, but select creators can still be invited to the main premiere.
Invitations usually come from studios or from PR companies that hold a set number of spots. She gave the example of a studio with seven allocations for a big film choosing the right people to fill them. Companies such as Meta can hold allocations too.
Timing varies. Lists are sometimes set four days ahead and sometimes three weeks ahead, which makes planning an outfit hard. Some creators also write directly to studios or PR teams to ask for early screenings when they know their audience is excited about a film.
She is precise about her title. She calls herself a creator, presenter and interviewer, says she is not a journalist, and says she is not aiming to become one. In her view the titles overlap, but the purposes differ, and the label changes the access you get. She calls the hierarchy at premieres respectable.
She also rejects the idea of creators against journalists, calling it a false binary. Journalists bring training, research and authority, she says, while creators bring personality and a direct, personal link with talent. She thinks there is room for both.
Zainab Jiwa’s Interviews, Hosting Work, and Brand Partners
Forbes points to her Gladiator II interview with Denzel Washington, whose coverage reached around 10 million views. She posted the full conversation to YouTube in November 2024, and IMDb ran a news item on the acting advice he gave.
Forbes also names Paul Mescal among her interviews. The BBC adds Tom Hiddleston and Zendaya, and her X account announced an interview with Andrew Garfield. Her website says stars including Washington and Zendaya have praised her storytelling.
Her approach changes with the assignment. She told Washington Post Creator she decides each time whether to aim for a fun, viral moment or a deeper look at the film’s core, based on what the studio and audience want.
Her partner list is long. Her website names Netflix, Google, Sony, Warner Bros. and Prime Video, and her media kit adds Disney, Sky, Nike, H&M, ASOS and Samsung. Forbes lists work with the British Film Institute and the British Fashion Council, and her LinkedIn profile names appearances on BBC One, Radio 5, the Asian Network, ITV News and Channel 5 News.
Art, Travel, and Acting Beyond the Red Carpet
Her channels cover more than premieres. Her website lists art and painting, travel and fashion content, and behind-the-scenes moments, often with Banksy the cat in the frame. Her YouTube channel describes her as an interviewer, presenter and creator who talks about film, TV, fashion, art and travel. On LinkedIn she sums up her niches as pop culture, fashion and humor.
Her media kit lists four roles: presenter, artist, actress and creator. It also names the formats she works in, including hosting, interviews, tutorials, film and TV recommendations and educational commentary.
Awards and Recognition
Zainab Jiwa’s recognition so far includes the following.
- Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2025, Media & Marketing
- Women in Media Award at the Muslim Women Awards
- Nominee for Entertainment Creator of the Year at the 2024 Sky x TikTok Awards
Forbes lists the 30 Under 30 honor on its own site. The other two come from her website, so they are self-reported.
Follower Counts and Net Worth
Audience figures for Zainab Jiwa vary by source and date. Her website cites more than 800,000 followers, Forbes gives more than 800,000 across Instagram and TikTok with over 25 million likes, and her media kit says 1 million followers and over 30 million likes. The BBC counted about 660,000 on TikTok and close to 400,000 on Instagram, and TikTok’s own profile page showed about 666,000 followers and 31.2 million likes.
The gap likely reflects when each figure was published and which platforms it counts.
No reputable source reviewed for this article gives a verified net worth for her. What is public is her list of brand partners; what those campaigns paid is not.
Trust, Access, and Where She Fits in the Industry
A common criticism, put to her in the Washington Post Creator Q+A, is that studios prefer creators because they expect positive reviews. Zainab Jiwa says audience trust comes first and that she will not promote something she does not like. Her line was blunt: “I dish out a one-star when I need to dish out a one-star.”
She also admits the pressure is real. The worry about managing brand relationships is always there, she says, and the answer is to remember why she started creating in the first place.
Two choices set her apart from the other creators the BBC places on the same red carpets, including Amelia Dimoldenberg of Chicken Shop Date, Reece Feldman and Jake Shane. She is upfront that she is not a journalist, which makes her account of how access works easy to trust. And she builds her looks around modest dress and cultural detail, which gives her a recognizable identity among other creators.
Being a fan remains the core of the job for Zainab Jiwa. She told the BBC she sees herself as a fan first, and she named Dune and Doomsday as upcoming films she is looking forward to.
