By Fiona Tedds
Face-to-face with the first lady of New York Fashion.
Norma Kamali is ready for the day. She is chatting about her frontrow tickets to see Beyoncé, who has chosen to wear her designs in some of her new videos. Chicly dressed in a suit made of gray jersey, the designer has an energy and spirit remarkable for any woman—especially for one who has been working in the New York fashion industry for almost 50 years.
Kamali describes the 1970s as “a time when fashion was at its most original… its most unique, stimulating and creative… when to walk through Central Park in the summer in a velvet dress was not an extraordinary thing!” She cites Cher as a huge influence on fashion, and comments, “This was when her passion for comfortable, sexy, modern clothing was born, [in] a timeless style that transcends fashion.”
While she designed the famous red bathing suit worn in the iconic 1976 Farrah Fawcett image (the suit now belongs to the Smithsonian), her designs today can be seen on celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, who she dressed for the European MTV awards in a silver foil turtleneck dress, and Christina Aguilera seen on The Voice in a pair of Kamali’s studded shorts. She is known for her innovation and her remarkable skill of producing classic designs that always seem modern.
Normal Kamali is the Style Vault profile of DOWNTOWN’s Spring 2014 edition. If you would like to continue reading the entire interview with the first lady of New York fashion, you can find it in our latest issue on newsstands now!
