Norma Kamali Vintage

[Lena]

KAMALI’S COUNTDOWN: As she has throughout her 36-year career in fashion, Norma Kamali is going against the grain yet again. Instead of joining the rest of the designer pack in paying top dollar to amass their ateliers’ long-lost archives, the doyenne of modern dressing is selling four decades worth of jersey dresses, padded-shoulder jumpsuits and wild wedge shoes to vintage hot shop Resurrection. The 5,000 pieces and counting, stored in a New Jersey warehouse, will go on sale Nov. 8 at Resurrection’s New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo stores, as well as at Collette in Paris. “I just decided one day I didn’t want to hold on to these things anymore, and that was that,” Kamali said. And that’s not all. She’s also decided, after two decades, she’s had enough of her 10,000-square-foot temple on West 56th Street. Only a year after whitewashing it to reflect XV, her new wellness line of topical and edible products, Kamali listed the building for sale this summer with Cushman & Wakefield. For the designer, tomorrow is about her successful Internet business and smaller shops in the 700-square-foot range. “People don’t have time to shop any more in large spaces. If they do, they will go to a Costco,” she declared. But she’s isn’t calling for the death of retail yet. “We still want the experience. But the experience has to change with the times

from wwd

 

[Spacemiu]

thats very admirable ,to let go

 

[softgrey]

omg...omg ...omg...i can't imagine nyc without that store...i have got to get that norma kamali skirt i was looking at...and the website isn't even running now...

can you imagine?!?!...tons of vintage norma kamali that has never been worn...?!?!?!
i have to go just to see what's there..!!!

thx so much lena...

 

[Atelier]

Adding to the Norma Kamali lovefest:

Evening Ensemble, 1977
Designed by Norma Kamali
(American, b. 1945)
Gift of Eddie Kamali, 1978
(1978.163.2a-c)

Norma Kamali dress from 1972-3, made from lycra/spandex knit. Gift of Hedy Kleinman to The Museum at FIT.

Asymmetrical cutout swimsuit by Norma Kamali, available at Norma Kamali, New York.

<-- That's her!

 

[purechris]

I like her thought process on scaling down the store, and changing the shopping environment. Space is definitely a luxury, but I am over the "super store" mentality. 700 sq ft is TINY though--people always say that we're small at 1800 sqft. I couldn't imagine her doing apparel and her skin care line in that amount of space.

 

[softgrey]

yah...the store she has now isn't all that big...it's crazy$$$ real estate though...if she opens a little shop downtown...it could be cool...i think she should do one that is just swim...one that is just jersey...one that is just activewear...etc...all near each other though...like marc jacobs did...on bleecker st...

 

[Lena]

i absolutely adore the fact that she's been 'scaling down' instead of up,
it makes so more much sense and i'm sure it will give her MORE artistic freedom

thanks for the fab visuals atelier,
i'll never forget my reaction when i first saw those cut-out swimwear.. she has been a major influence for me, thats when i was still a design student, believe it , i even had the same haircut with her (dark version-which also suits her best) until quite recently

softgrey, do run to the vintage sale, i'll ask my sis to go down and steal few things for me..hehehehe, i wish i was in NY just for this

if you have any more NK pictures please kindly post

 

[prixi]

 

[softgrey]

hope the prices will be reasonable...resurrection's prices are notoriously high...

 

[TriniFashionPho]

so i interned at norma kamali for a very short time and i think pretty much is that she's not making any more at all, that's why she's selling her collections and scaling down her store, because frankly she can't afford the rent. Her XV line is ridiculously expensive. Who wants to pay $50 for a small bottle of olive oil?! Or $10 for a bag of popcorn?!

While interning there I may have probably sold like $20 in merchandise from her XV line. she needs to get over the fact that most of her customers are the ones from the 80's and still only a few of them still shop with her.

As you can tell, the internship was blah lol.

 

[softgrey]

Originally posted by TriniFashionPho@Sep 21 2004, 11:42 AM
so i interned at norma kamali for a very short time and i think pretty much is that she's not making any more at all, that's why she's selling her collections and scaling down her store, because frankly she can't afford the rent. Her XV line is ridiculously expensive. Who wants to pay $50 for a small bottle of olive oil?! Or $10 for a bag of popcorn?!

While interning there I may have probably sold like $20 in merchandise from her XV line. she needs to get over the fact that most of her customers are the ones from the 80's and still only a few of them still shop with her.

As you can tell, the internship was blah lol.

[snapback]371511[/snapback]​

thanks for sharing and welcome to the boards...
i'm not sure what you meant by she's not making any more at all...do you mean she's not making anymore of her product line or do you mean she's not producing her collection anymore?...

i so agree with you regardig the products...all that holistic crap...and you can send someone a box of dried roses...why???...and that trend was about 10 years ago anyway...that was a bad move on her part, imo...

 

[TriniFashionPho]

Hey thanks for the welcome!

I mean in terms of not making anymore, i mean money. Her sales apparently have been extremely low. Also they have extremely poor customer service meaning customers would call all the time and complain about not getting products they paid for, or something being wrong with the quality. After seeing all the non sense, I was like i've got to get out of here lol.

So seeing her put up the building for sale, was no surprise at all.

 

[softgrey]

Originally posted by TriniFashionPho@Sep 21 2004, 02:52 PM
Hey thanks for the welcome!

I mean in terms of not making anymore, i mean money. Her sales apparently have been extremely low. Also they have extremely poor customer service meaning customers would call all the time and complain about not getting products they paid for, or something being wrong with the quality. After seeing all the non sense, I was like i've got to get out of here lol.

So seeing her put up the building for sale, was no surprise at all.

[snapback]371728[/snapback]​

yeah...not a huge shocker...but still...a d*mn shame...she's a real NY'er...hate to see her shut down altogether...hopefully she'll just move on...

fingers crossed that she'll find a solution...she's always participating in charity things and doing things for kids interested in fashion...and-OMO...means on my own...which i always thought was really cool...the fact that she was doing it all on her own... plus...tara subkoff is so blatantly ripping her off with her little ioc dresses...

i just wish norma the best...
thanks for the inside scoop Trini...
very cool...

 

[softgrey]

update---this store is still there and now sells both collaborative lines...
Spiegel and Everlast...

 

[iluvjeisa]

Not sure this is entirely in line with the topic of this thread, but here is a creation from 1983 from American Vogue photographed by Newton. (scanned by me)