admin If you’re Norma Kamali and life has given you lemons, what do you do? Make a trompe l’oeil denim print, evidently. “The interesting thing about this collection is that I had fabrics chosen, everything done, ready, and none of it arrived,” explained the designer on a walk-through. “The universe didn’t want me to do that because I shouldn’t have been doing that,” she concluded and moved on, cool as a cucumber. And why not? Kamali has many resources at her fingertips.
From her archive, the designer pulled a marble print, and another that featured a giant elephant head. From her memories, she pulled a trip to India. These inspired draped sashes that were attached with magnets to garments to give the wearer an easy on-off option. The TV series “1883” was the starting point for Kamali’s fringed vegan leather jackets, which fit into a sub theme of “old Hollywood, but cowboys at the same time.”
Kamali is extremely perceptive and ever sensitive to what’s happening in the world and her collections, which are always extensive, and are usually organized around her latest preoccupation. That wasn’t the case with this one, which lacked an overarching organizing principle, likely because of the supply chain issues. Then there’s the fact that Kamali is deeply engaged with and excited about a few projects that are separate from the making of clothing. The designer recently took a course at MIT on regenerative AI. And she’s relaunching her podcast later this month, featuring an interview with none other than Rick Owens, who, like Kamali, is an independent designer. What did they talk about? You’ll have to tune in, but it seems that they agree that while AI can do many things, no prompt can replicate feeling on a physical or emotional level.
