On the rare occasions that Norma Kamali finds herself in need of some downtime, she doesn’t reach for a book or the remote control, she just looks out of the window. Granted, her window offers a more compelling view than most. “We have a spot in the apartment that has an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty and the harbour and the sunset,” the New York designer tells me over lunch at The Connaught in London, dressed in her signature all black topped off with cat-eye glasses. “We [Kamali and her longtime partner, lawyer Marty Edelman] have these two ball chairs that we sit in – he of course has three phones going off. But I just sit there and stare. I have to do that once in a while… no music, no TV, nothing external. It’s really important.”
Kamali could be forgiven for allowing herself a certain sense of satisfaction in those moments, surveying her panoramic view of the city she was born in, and where she has been an integral part of the fashion scene since she first began making clothes in the 1960s. But after an hour in her company I suspect that the designer, who turns 80 today, is less likely to spend the time reflecting on her considerable achievements than she is wondering: what’s next?
“Never stop learning,” she declares, her Oura ring catching the light as she gesticulates – and even a cursory glance at her journey illustrates just how seriously Kamali takes that mantra. She made her name with her sleeping bag coat in the 1970s, preempted the athleisure trend with her Sweats line in the ’80s, and continues to dress A-listers from Gaga to Tyla to this day. (Her brand’s enduring relevance was recently underscored by another New York legend, Carrie Bradshaw, who returned to screens in season one of And Just Like That wearing Kamali’s Diana dress.) But to limit any discussion of her accomplishments to fashion would be to do her a disservice.
Empire-building is the norm nowadays, when a beauty brand is a prerequisite for a successful pop star and Oscar-winning actors peddle own-brand booze, but you might say Norma – who introduced a unisex fragrance in 1985, branched into beauty with a skincare line in 1993, and opened her Wellness Café in the early Noughties (“there was only one juice bar in New York City back then!”) – was doing it first. An early adopter when it comes to tech (Kamali broadcast her autumn/winter 1996 collection online, and launched e-commerce two years later), she’s now an enthusiastic podcaster (past guests include Venus Williams, Twiggy, and Rick Owens), and busy incorporating AI into her business.
At 80, Norma is still working full time, still joining her team for their thrice-weekly workouts in the office (which are open to all to join via livestream), still searching for the new. “To live the long game,” Kamali replies, when I ask if she has any lingering ambitions. “I’d like to live to 121! Seriously, I’m thinking of what I’ll be doing then, and how I can stay healthy enough to achieve that.”
To celebrate her birthday, Vogue shares just a handful more lessons to take from Norma Kamali’s approach to life.
Make the most of the morning
“I’ll get up between 4 and 5am. But that time is really good for me: to plan, to strategise… my mind is fresh. I find I have answers to the problems I couldn’t figure out the day before.”
You don’t have to be a great cook to eat well
“I’m very good at the things that do not involve actual cooking. I can open a can, I can open a jar, I can cut a lemon and squeeze it… And I put olive oil in everything, including my green juice.”
Movement is key…
“I feel very strongly about working out. Especially at my age, movement is a priority, whereas at other ages sleep may be the priority. But sleep, diet and exercise are all key.”
… And so is rest
“[Marty and I] have these two ball chairs that we sit in – he of course has three phones going off. But I just sit there and stare. I have to do that once in a while… no music, no TV, nothing external. It’s really important.”
It’s okay to change your mind…
“Efficiency is very important to me, so I try to make as many lists as I can when I plan for a collection, so that [the team] has guidelines, a calendar and whatever… and then I’ll change my mind. If some people haven’t seen the process before I’ll see eyes rolling, or I’ll hear, ‘She’s changed her mind again.’ And I think to myself, ‘And I might change it again – twice!’
… But have a back-up plan
Sometimes change is inevitable and you have to be able to roll with it. But I always have a plan B. Sometimes plan B ends up becoming the collection.”
It’s important to embrace change full-stop
“If you don’t disrupt yourself, you start to feel stagnant. And if you don’t disrupt yourself, [ultimately] the world is going to disrupt you, and that’s very hard.”
Age is a state of mind
“I used to imagine how I would look when I was 60. I thought, I think I’ll wear my hair parted in the middle with a chignon… Now, nobody thinks of 60 looking like that, but when I was 16, it was pretty old! Perception changes over time.”
They’re not “regrets”, they’re learning experiences
“Do whatever you want,” Kamali replies, when I ask what she’d like to tell that 16-year-old version of herself now. “Did I ever go out with an asshole? Yeah. But that’s the woman’s plight! [Coming to understand how] what we deserve compares to what we choose.”