The Company Index
|
Norma Kamali
Born in New York, Norma Kamali was a pupil at the Washington Irving High School and then studied fashion illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology. In 1968 she launched her first shop, the precursor of her OMO shops and the start of a multi-national fashion business, including clothes, swimwear, sportswear, perfume, home
furnishings, make-up and skin care products, glasses, watches and jewellery. Her recent collections include the introduction of a year-round wardrobe of essential women's fashion. In 1984 she was the first designer to introduce video as a means of promoting her work and in 1996 her autumn collection became a 'worldwide virtual reality experience'
when it was broadcast over the Internet. Now over 50% of the Norma Kamali retail business is carried out over the internet. She has designed for a number of theatre and film projects, starting with Sydney Lumet's 1978 film The Wiz. She first worked with Twyla Tharp in 1986, designing costumes for In the Upper Room. In 1996 she designed for
Tharp!, including the works Sweet Dreams and Route 66. She has received many honours, including COTY awards for design innovation and women's fashion design, election to the COTY Hall of Fame, an Ernie for outstanding children's sportswear design, a CFD award for innovatory use of video, being named an outstanding graduate by the
Public Education Association of New York and the 'American Success Award' for vocational technical education, which was presented by President George Bush. In 1997 she joined the Washington Irving High School Hall of Fame and her work with the students from the school's art house setting up a business to demonstrate the importance of links between art
and commerce, led to her being awarded the Youth Friends Award for outstanding personal achievement and interest in education.
|
|
|
|
