2024-12-09
1 小时 29 分钟When Norma Kamali studied fashion illustration in the 1960s, she never expected to become a designer. So when a job as an airline clerk came along, she was glad to accept it—along with the perk of dirt-cheap flights from New York to London. On those weekend trips abroad, she discovered fashion that was exuberant and eye-catching, so she started loading her suitcase with clothing to sell in the U.S. By the 1970s, she was designing her own pieces out of a shop in New York; soon she was selling them to celebrities like Cher and Bette Midler. Today, after more than 50 years in the fashion industry, Norma Kamali is known for iconic designs like the sleeping bag coat, and the bold red bathing suit popularized by Farah Fawcett. This episode was produced by J.C. Howard with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Hey everyone, it's Guy here.
So this week we're pulling one from our archives.
It's an episode with Norma Kamali, the legendary and iconic fashion designer.
So iconic in fact, that recently she's been building an AI model of herself.
With the hope that her team can.
Use it in the future to create new Norma Kamali designs based on her aesthetic.
Also, if you want to hear more from Norma, she came back on the show a few weeks ago, this time on the advice line so you can scroll back in the podcast queue to hear her give advice to up and coming entrepreneurs.
It's another super fun conversation, but this episode will blow your mind.
It is an epic tale.
It is a hero's journey.
Here is her first appearance on How I Built this from 2021.
Well, I started to make some things and I would put them in the store to see how they would do and they would do really well.
And so the majority of the stock slowly became my designs.
And I had a full page in Vogue and I had a good size page in Bazaar and that was beyond, beyond belief because I thought somebody is going to find me out.
I don't know what I'm doing and I have a full page in Vogue and bizarre.
This is nuts.
Like I don't have a clue.
Welcome to How I Built this, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists and the stories behind the movements they built.