Hardware Podcasts

Norma Kamali: Norma Kamali

How I Built This · 1 Feb 2021 · 1h 30m

What this episode covers

Fashion designer Norma Kamali explains how she built a 50-year career by leveraging cheap airline travel to source London fashion, opening a secret boutique, and creating iconic products like the sleeping bag coat and the red swimsuit popularized by Farah Fawcett. After leaving her husband Eddie Kamali and the original business with only $98, she restarted with a licensing deal with Jones Apparel for her sweatwear line, later partnering with Walmart to reach mass markets while maintaining quality control. Kamali discusses her philosophy of comfort, her early adoption of e-commerce, and her perspective on aging and longevity in the fashion industry.

Most relevant to

founders before launch and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Jones Apparel, Walmart, Northwest Orient Airlines, Bloomingdale's, J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, Gap
Products
Norma Kamali, Sleeping Bag Coat, Dandies
Also
Farah Fawcett, Bette Midler, Smithsonian Museum, FIT, Vogue, Bazaar, Time magazine, Woman's Wear Daily, Halston

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