For more than 55 years, Norma Kamali has built a lexicon of signature styles, which she analyzes every season Dictionary to deal with the moment. Take the best-selling Diana dress; it was launched at parties last season—until you fall in love with neon and metallics; it was toned down for pre-fall in muted shades like bone and lichen, Shows Kamali’s embrace of Zen in the face of a looming recession.
“How do you keep it simple?” That’s the question she asked herself when designing her Pre-Fall collection. Her solution was to drastically scale back the color palette (most of the garments were white, black and gray) and keep the silhouettes sleek and form-fitting. Overall, it was a more fitted collection with an emphasis on suits and shirts. Kamali has revisited the fluid pleated trousers she designed for Twyla Tharp in 1986 (and has redesigned them for the choreographer’s recently revived ballet, In the Upper Room). Heathered jersey is used in activewear pieces that can be worn anywhere but in the gym, a concept pioneered by Kamli 40 years ago.
Kamali also has a pair of leggings and bodysuits as key layering pieces. The designer keeps thinking back to her time at Jones Apparel, when she was tasked with designing a modular wardrobe for a working woman. She updated this idea here. Swap your vegan leather jacket for a blazer and transform your work look into your on-the-go look. The most extroverted looks in the collection were a feather jacket with a collar that was worn high on the face to frame it, and a coat in gray reflective material that was both safe and stylish. Kamali’s Zen philosophy is simple, but not simple.
For many, including Kamali, showing off in recessionary times is not comme il faut, for which she presents A streamlined, somewhat subdued wardrobe with a spiritual or philosophical spin. “I keep coming back to [with Zen] because it’s also a state of mind,” the designer explained. “You’re accepting and aware of what’s going on, you’re Zen in it, you’re one with it. You’re not fighting it, you’re not surrendering to it, you’re finding strength in it, a place in it.” Ultimately, what Kamali offered this season was a wardrobe that could weather the storm.
