Norma Kamali

Last updated

Norma Kamali
Born
Norma Arraez

(1945-06-27) June 27, 1945 (age 80)
New York City, U.S.
Alma mater Fashion Institute of Technology
OccupationFashion designer
Years active1968–present
Website normakamali.com
A coat Kamali designed in 2021 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the In America: A Lexicon of Fashion exhibition Norma Kamali coat at the Met (52728).jpg
A coat Kamali designed in 2021 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the In America: A Lexicon of Fashion exhibition

Norma Kamali (born June 27, 1945) [1] is an American fashion designer and entrepreneur best known for the "Sleeping Bag" Coat, sweats as everyday sportswear, and swimwear. She lives in New York City. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Norma Arraez was born on June 27, 1945, to Estrella C. Galib Arraez Granofsky and Salvador Mariategui William Arraez, a middle class family residing in Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City. [1] [3] She is of Lebanese and Basque descent. [4] Aspiring to become a painter. [3] Kamali attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and earned a degree in illustration. [3] [5] First job, she worked for Northwest Orient Airlines from 1966 to 1967, operating a Univac computer. She started going to London every weekend for four years. [6] [7] In an interview, she says that her mother Estrella planted a seed when telling her to become independent and pushed her to make her own cloth early on. [8]

Career

In 1967, Kamali opened a New York boutique with her then-husband Mohammed Houssein "Eddie" Kamali, concentrating on London-style street looks, including the 1940s-revival looks that were trendy in 1971 and that Kamali would play with throughout her career. [9] By 1968 she was designing her own pieces: looks with elaborate appliques, tie-die velvets, rhinestone-studded T-shirts and hot pants - the first in NYC. This is also when she created the All In One Dress that she still sells today and other multi-style jersey designs. [10]

Norma Kamali designed her famous Sleeping Bag Coat in 1973 after a camping trip inspired her to create a wearable garment from a sleeping bag.

In 1974, the couple opened a shop called Kamali on Madison Avenue. She makes the Parachute Collection made from actual silk parachutes. She became known for her line of clothing made of real silk parachutes, which included the innovation of being adjustable in length and fit by drawstring, a characteristic feature of the mid-seventies Big Look period, [11] and she still makes parachute clothing today. [12] Diana Vreeland includes them in her Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute curation looking at the future of fashion contrasted. [13]

After their divorce in 1975, Norma Kamali opened her own independent boutique called OMO Norma Kamali, OMO standing for "on my own." [14]

During the early seventies, she started producing one-piece maillot bathing suits stripped of structuring to achieve a sleek, racy shape on which she altered leg cuts and back cuts to create a great variety of looks. Those in glamour fabrics like gold lamé garnering particular attention from fashion-watchers, especially when Cosmo puts Francesco Scavullo’s photo of Christie Brinkley in the Pull Bikini on its cover. [15] By the mid-seventies, she was well known for her swimsuits, and the very high leg cuts on some of her swimwear from the second half of the seventies set a trend that lasted through the following decade. [16] She used fabrics with Lycra both for her swimsuits and for clothing to dance in at Studio 54. Kamali designed the red one-piece bathing suit worn by Farrah Fawcett in the iconic 1976 poster [17] (later considered the best-selling poster of all time) and the bathing suit worn by Whitney Houston on the back cover of her 1985 debut album. Farrah Fawcett's suit was donated to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2011. [18]

Norma Kamali's "Sleeping Bag" coat, designed between 1980-1985. Norma Kamali "Sleeping Bag" coat, 1980-1985.jpg
Norma Kamali's "Sleeping Bag" coat, designed between 1980-1985.

Kamali was one of over a dozen designers selected to produce costumes for the 1978 film The Wiz. [19]

Norma Kamali designed and patented the High Heeled Sneaker in the 1980s [20] .

She is one of several designers credited with popularizing the shoulder pad in women's wear in the 1980s [21] and played a prominent role in adapting exaggerated shoulder pads to casual clothes at the beginning of the eighties shoulder-pad era in 1978. [22]

She reached a peak of fame during the early 1980s [23] with her 1980 "Sweats" collection, a variety of casual garments done in sweatshirt fabric, most famously flounced, hip-yoked miniskirts called rah-rah skirts in the UK, [24] [25] a style she had first presented in other fabrics in 1979. [26] These garments were the first mini-length skirts in ten years to gain widespread public acceptance, repopularizing miniskirts for the eighties. [27] The "Sweats" collection of 1980-81 also finally won the public over to the large shoulder pads that the fashion industry had been trying to get women to wear since 1978, [28] partly by making the pads removable via velcro, the first designer to make prominent use of velcro for this purpose. [29] Her "Sweats" collection popularized athleisure, which we still see trending today.

Kamali did not usually participate in the biannual series of fashion shows in which most designers presented their wares, preferring instead to debut new styles in her store windows. An exception to this was when Japanese designer Hanae Mori invited her to stage a Kamali presentation in Tokyo in 1983. [30]

Kamali purchased and redesigned her own building at 11 West Fifty-Sixth Street in 1983 to become her brand headquarters, retail store, design studio and showroom. [31]

Garments from Kamali's 1983 and '84 lines, including black-and-white blanket plaids, raincoat-yellow jackets, and trumpet skirts, [32] were featured in the video for Chaka Khan's hugely popular 1984 cover of "I Feel for You."

To present her fall 1984 collection, she prepared a video called "Fall Fantasy" that was played on screens in her store. [33] The video included a song composed for her by Walter Grant called "Shoulder Pads," [34] [35] a tongue-in-cheek paean to one of her favorite fashion items of the time. [36] [37] Her fall 1985 collection video featured music by Carly Simon. [38] [39] She continued to introduce new lines via store videos for years afterward. [40] In 1985 she produced and directed “Fashion Aid” video for the Live Aid Foundation to help fight famine in Africa. [41]

In 1986, Kamali did the costumes for Twyla Tharp's ballet In the Upper Room, with music by Philip Glass. [42] [43]

For sustainability purposes, all of her designs are washable.

In 1996, www.normakamali.com launches with a simultaneous virtual reality broadcast for the internet during her Fall 1996 collection presentation. By 1998 she is one of the first designers to launch e-commerce when 18008KAMALI becomes available for purchase. [44]

Her work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [45]

Kamali was the first designer to create an online store on eBay. [2] In addition to designing clothing, she also produced a fitness, health and beauty line. [46] The events of 9/11/2001 inspired her to open the Wellness Cafe and an Olive You Line debuts [47] .

In 2008, Kamali produced a collection for Walmart, all priced under $20, and sales crash its website [48] . [49] In 2012 she launches Kamalikulture with all styles under $100 on Amazon and zappos.com [44] .

In 2021, Kamali published a memoir entitled I Am Invincible, [50] a handbook for women on fitness, health, beauty, and life. She also co-wrote a book in 2016 on acupuncture and Chinese Medicine with Dr. Jingduan Yang titled "Facing East."

Kamali has a podcast, NORMAKAMALIFE, where she interviews pop culture figures, fashion and beauty notables, and wellness and longevity experts, as well as shares her life experience.

After completing a generative AI course at MIT in 2023, [51] Kamali trained an AI to produce clothing designs in her style, taking reference from her archive of designs to improve her company's longevity. [52] [53] She is a believer of using AI in art and design to open new doors of creativity.

Her designs have been worn by rock stars and pop culture figures for almost 60 years, including Bette Midler, Grace Jones, Diana Ross, Raquel Welch, Christie Brinkley, Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Sabrina Carpenter.

Kamali continues to be the sole owner of Norma Kamali Inc, which has global distribution.

Awards and honors

1981: A Coty Award, called the "Winnie" but formally titled the American Fashion Critics' Award. [54]

1983: Earnie Award for Outstanding Children’s Sportswear Design celebrating the mini version of Sweats [55]

1983: A Coty Hall of Fame Award. [55]

1986: Honored by the Fashion Group International (FGI) in a salute to women who have made a difference in the fashion industry. [56]

1989: President George H.W. Bush presents her with the American Success Award for Vocational Technical Education. [57]

1999: Pencil Award for extraordinary commitment to New York City public school education. [55]

2005: The CFDA Board of Directors Special Tribute Award. [2]

2009: The Fashion Designer of the Year Award from the American Apparel and Footwear Association. [58]

2016: The CFDA Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, [3] which was presented to her by Michael Kors. [59]

2019: Kamali received the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Pioneer Award [60] at the United Nations.

2010: Kamali received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, the Fashion Institute of Technology. [61]

Kamali has a plaque on the Fashion Walk of Fame. [49]

Personal life

In 1968, she married Mohammad "Eddie" Kamali. They divorced in 1977. She got engaged to her longtime partner, Marty Edelman, in 2020, and they are now married. [62]

A lifelong devotee of dachshunds, Wally Kamali is her beloved pet. [63]

References

  1. 1 2 Alford, Holly Price; Stegemeyer, Anne (2014). Who's Who in Fashion. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 194. ISBN   978-1-60901-969-3.
  2. 1 2 3 "Norma Kamali". Council of Fashion Designers of America. Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Anderson, Kristin (June 1, 2016). "Bette Midler, Vera Wang, and More Tell the Story of the Iconic Norma Kamali". Vogue . Archived from the original on January 3, 2019.
  4. ↑ Denman, Selina (May 29, 2014). "The designer Norma Kamali talks about her ethical-carpet project as it hits the UAE". The National. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Norma Kamali". People . December 27, 1982. Archived from the original on November 23, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  6. ↑ Kotsoni, Norma Kamali, as told to Elektra (July 4, 2025). "Norma Kamali on her first and last job in fashion". Vogue. Retrieved January 13, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Kellogg, Ann T., Amy T. Peterson, Stefani Bay, and Natalie Swindell. "Kamali, Norma". In In an Influential Fashion: An Encyclopedia of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Fashion Designers and Retailers Who Transformed Dress, illustrated by Kamila Dominik, [169]-171. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
  8. ↑ Monocle Radio (April 18, 2025). Norma Kamali . Retrieved July 30, 2025– via YouTube.
  9. ↑ Vreeland, Diana, ed. (May 1, 1971). "Vogue's Own Boutique". Vogue. 157 (9). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 190. ...feather chubby, shiny satin shorts,...Kamali, 229 East 53rd Street.
  10. ↑ Harbison, Georgia (October 5, 1981). "Living: The Hot-Selling Locker Room Look". Time.com.
  11. ↑ Jablon, Sara (2015). "Kamali, Norma (1945–)". In F., José Blanco (ed.). Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe [4 volumes]: American Fashion from Head to Toe. ABC-CLIO. p. 175. ISBN   978-1-61069-310-3.
  12. ↑ admin (October 20, 2012). "Fashion Flashback: Norma Kamali's Parachute Collection". Fashion Reverie. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Norma Kamali - Evening ensemble - American - The Metropolitan Museum of Art". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  14. ↑ Madden, Kathleen (June 1, 1982). "The Kamali Effect". Vogue. 172 (6). New York, NY, USA: The Conde Nast Publications: 193, 271. At nineteen, Norma married Eddie (Mohammed Houssein) Kamali,a student from Iran; and, a year later, they opened a basement boutique on East Fifty-Third Street. They stocked it with kicky 'sixties Carnaby Street London things...[T]he shop moved, in 1974, to a...space on Madison Avenue. It was called Kamali. After the Kamalis divorced, OMO Norma Kamali was born – in 1978.
  15. ↑ "Christie Brinkley Shares Body-Positive Message with 1977 Bikini Pic That 'Caused a Stir'". People.com. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  16. ↑ Madden, Kathleen (June 1, 1982). "The Kamali Effect". Vogue. 172 (6). New York, NY, USA: The Conde Nast Publications: 193, 271. First, there are Kamali bathing suits...In 1972, Kamali first made maillots out of gold lamé...
  17. ↑ Dodes, Rachel (June 25, 2009). "Norma Kamali, Designer of Swimsuit from Farrah Fawcett Poster, Remembers the Star". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2012.(subscription required)
  18. ↑ Moss, Hilary (February 2, 2011). "Farrah Fawcett's Red Swimsuit Goes To Smithsonian (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  19. ↑ Donovan, Carrie (August 6, 1978). "Wiz Biz". The New York Times: 48–51. Some of Norma Kamali's concoctions for the Emerald City sequence of 'The Wiz'.
  20. ↑ Zarrella, Katharine K. (July 18, 2014). "Body of Work". Vogue. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Index Magazine". Index Magazine. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  22. ↑ Duka, John (July 11, 1978). "Norma Kamali is Heading Out on Her Own". The New York Times: C2. Retrieved December 10, 2021. Norma Kamali...has become famous for her parachute dresses, sexy, shirred bathing suits, pegged, draped skirts...and...padded shoulders.
  23. ↑ Hyde, Nina (March 25, 1983). "Comfortable Classiness". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2022. One year ago [1982], all you saw being worn by fashionable women was Norma Kamali.
  24. ↑ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1980". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 371. ISBN   0-670-80172-0. Norma Kamali launched her 'sweats' collection: rah-rah skirts, leggings and jogging suits cut in grey and brightly coloured cotton sweatshirting. The tops often had huge, American-footballer shoulder pads. These low-priced co-ordinates were copied worldwide.
  25. ↑ Weir, June, ed. (March 1, 1981). "A Woman's Design Concept: The Kamali Way". Vogue. 171 (03). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 268. ...Norma recently designed a thirty-five-piece collection of separates in sweatshirt fabric....produced by the sportswear division of Jones Apparel.
  26. ↑ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1980". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 371. ISBN   0-670-80172-0. Kenzo, Chloé and others now showed pretty, floral printed-cotton versions of the rah-rah introduced by Kamali and [Perry] Ellis in 1979.
  27. ↑ Madden, Kathleen (June 1, 1982). "The Kamali Effect". Vogue. 172 (6). New York, NY, USA: The Conde Nast Publications: 271. Short 'rah-rah' skirts...sold out...across the country....'Girls would buy 20 pieces at a time.'...Her rah-rah skirts were 'the first minis, since the early 'seventies, to sell in volume'.
  28. ↑ Buck, Genevieve (October 2, 1985). "Shoulders: The Intimate Story". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2022. ...[In] the late `70s...really big shoulders reappeared,...broader than ever. Reactions to the doorway-wide affairs generally ranged from 'not for me' to 'never!'...In the spring of `81, Kamali slipped oversized shoulder pads into vastly oversized sweatshirts in a collection of sportswear that took off overnight and found women, girls and even kids across the country happily looking like female footballers.... Since then, shoulder pads have become a way of life to the fashion-conscious,...
  29. ↑ Buck, Genevieve (October 2, 1985). "Shoulders: The Intimate Story". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2022. Norma Kamali...designed the pads so that they could be easily removed or returned to their proper place via slim strips of Velcro,
  30. ↑ Russell, Mary, ed. (March 1, 1983). "Vogue's View: New Directions in Fashion". Vogue. 173 (3). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 324. Norma Kamali chose Tokyo as the site of her first and only fashion show upon the invitation of Japanese designer Hanae Mori. 'I probably never will do another show,' said Norma. 'I prefer the "shows" of my store windows.'
  31. ↑ Lockwood, Lisa (June 28, 2012). "Norma Kamali Looking to Move". WWD. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  32. ↑ Mirabella, Grace, ed. (October 1, 1983). "In Venice...Weather or Not". Vogue. 173 (10). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 580–581. From Norma Kamali, her bright, taxicab-yellow slicker with a black/white flannel check lining... – an OMO-emblem T-shirt..., matching flannel check 'trumpet' skirt...
  33. ↑ Talley, André Leon (September 1, 1984). "Fashion Video: Norma Kamali's Newest Hit". Vogue. 174 (9). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 638. Instead of runway presentations, she believes in the power of video. For fall,...she planned...Fall Fantasy.
  34. ↑ Talley, André Leon (September 1, 1984). "Fashion Video: Norma Kamali's Newest Hit". Vogue. 174 (9). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 638. She had...a special song, 'Shoulder Pads,' written with original lyrics by Walter Grant; arrangement by Remal Music Design.....'The videos are mounted in my widows, and we aim to plug the sound of the song "Shoulder Pads" right onto the streets.'...
  35. ↑ Madden, Kathleen (August 1, 1984). "Vogue's View". Vogue. 174 (8). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 300. 'She's got big shoulder pads for men to cry on' from 'The Great Shoulder Pad Song,' commissioned for her fall-collection video by Norma Kamali....Kamali's sounding it out from her OMO shop speakers.
  36. ↑ Talley, André Leon (September 1, 1984). "Fashion Video: Norma Kamali's Newest Hit". Vogue. 174 (9). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 638. 'Broad shoulders and a lean body reflect an attitude of today for me'.
  37. ↑ Duka, John (October 27, 1981). "Notes on Fashion". The New York Times. p. C6. Retrieved November 20, 2023. 'Shoulder pads...,' [Norma Kamali] said, '[a]re like wearing a padded bra. They give you a certain attitude and strength. They compensate for...physical shortcomings.'...
  38. ↑ "Kamali and Carly Simon Aim for MTV". Chicago Tribune. August 8, 1985. Retrieved November 12, 2025. ...Norma Kamali and...Carly Simon teamed up for Kamali's new video...dubbed 'Interview'...
  39. ↑ Madden, Kathleen (December 1, 1985). "Vogue's View". Vogue. 175 (12). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 268. Norma Kamali's most recent video fashoin extravaganza...comes with...music by Carly Simon.
  40. ↑ Talley, André Leon (September 1, 1984). "Fashion Video: Norma Kamali's Newest Hit". Vogue. 174 (9). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 638. [Says Kamali,] 'We now do videos each season'.
  41. ↑ "Fashion show benefits famine relief - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  42. ↑ Madden, Kathleen (December 1, 1986). "Vogue's View". Vogue. 176 (12). New York, NY, USA: The Condé Nast Publications: 242. ...Norma Kamali['s]...inventive...layerings...costume Twyla Tharp/Philip Glass's ballet, 'In the Upper Room'.
  43. ↑ "In the Upper Room". American Ballet Theatre. Retrieved December 1, 2025. World Premiere: Twyla Tharp Dance Company; August 28, 1986; Original Costume Design by Norma Kamali
  44. 1 2 Bourne, Leah (March 30, 2012). "How E-Commerce Killed Shopping As A Sport". Forbes.com. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  45. ↑ "The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Collections". Metmuseum.org. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  46. ↑ post a comment › (June 21, 2011). "Norma Kamali Resort 2012 Collection on Style.com: Runway Review". Style.com. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  47. ↑ Karimzadeh, Marc (April 4, 2007). "Norma Kamali Opens Wellness Cafe Promoting Olive Oil". WWD. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  48. ↑ "Entrepreneurship Speaker Series". www.fitnyc.edu. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  49. 1 2 "Sidewalk-Catwalk". Sidewalk-Catwalk. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  50. ↑ "Norma Kamali on Commodified Wellness, Sweatpants, and Planning a Wedding at 75". Elle. February 17, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  51. ↑ Feitelgberg, Rosemary (September 29, 2023). "Norma Kamali Is Getting Married and Launching a Podcast". Women’s Wear Daily.
  52. ↑ Bain, Marc (January 30, 2024). "Can AI Carry On a Designer's Legacy?". Business of Fashion. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  53. ↑ Beard, Alison (January 2024). "Life's Work: An Interview with Norma Kamali". Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Publishing. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  54. ↑ Bernadine Morris, 1981 COTY Winners New York Times , September 26, 1981
  55. 1 2 3 Ryan, Kelly (January 14, 2026). "Norma Kamali" (PDF). American Ballet Theatre.
  56. ↑ "A Designer dress worth Stealing - Norma Kamali". Modig. May 29, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  57. ↑ Stout, Dr Chris E. (June 1, 2021). "The Invincible Norma Kamali". Medium. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  58. ↑ Kaplan, Julee (March 12, 2009). "AAFA Announces American Image Award Honorees". WWD. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  59. ↑ 2016 CFDA Fashion Awards: Norma Kamali Receives Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award on YouTube
  60. ↑ "WEDO Annual Pioneer Awards 2019". Women's Entrepreneurship Day. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019. Additional WEDO Kamali Normal Kamali profile, accessed January 14, 2020, and archived December 6, 2019.
  61. ↑ "Norma Kamali". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  62. ↑ "Designer Norma Kamali Announces Engagement at 75: 'We All Have a Different Timeline'". Peoplemag. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  63. ↑ O'Neill, Shane (November 17, 2025). "Longevity tips from an 80-year-old fashion legend". Washington Post.
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