Ensemble
American designer Norma Kamali debuted her New York store in 1968 together with her then-husband Eddy, and ventured out on her own in 1978, creating the “Norma Kamali OMO” label, for "On my own." This programmatic statement of independence characterized both her designs as well as the women she designed for, creating clothes that were modern, luxurious and comfortable, adapted to women's lives and bodies. She introduced design innovations such as the sleeping bag down coat, shoulder pads and athleisure, parachute fabric and high-end swimwear, which all became staples of the American fashion canon. In 1981, the year this beaded ensemble was created, Kamali won the American Fashion Critics' Award.
This silhouette decorated with strings of glass beads is a transitional design, which fuses design elements of three different decades: the craftsmanship and exuberance of the colored beads echoes Norma Kamali's days spent on 1960s London's Carnaby Street, the gender-blurring aesthetic embeds her work in 1970s club wear, and the shoulder pads introduce the body conscious ethos of the 1980s.
This silhouette decorated with strings of glass beads is a transitional design, which fuses design elements of three different decades: the craftsmanship and exuberance of the colored beads echoes Norma Kamali's days spent on 1960s London's Carnaby Street, the gender-blurring aesthetic embeds her work in 1970s club wear, and the shoulder pads introduce the body conscious ethos of the 1980s.
Artwork Details
- Title: Ensemble
- Designer: Norma Kamali (American, born 1945)
- Date: ca. 1981
- Culture: American
- Medium: nylon, glass, elastic
- Credit Line: Purchase, Gould Family Foundation Gift, in memory of Jo Copeland, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.581a–c
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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