Norma Kamali has dressed everyone from Brooke Shields to Beyoncé, works out daily, and produces her own line of olive oil. She also makes jumpsuits out of parachutes, which settles any doubts about whether or not she is a superhero. Norma's limited edition cult collection just arrived at OC and features sweeping fishtail skirts, frothy white dresses, and Victorian camisoles cut from reinforced military-issue nylon.
The pieces have a history as amazing as Norma's: a parachute cocoon coat made a cameo in The Wiz (yes, the one with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson) and world record holder Pam Sarnoff wore an NK parachute flight suit on her round-the-world flight in 1976. But how did it all begin? We asked Norma...
"In the early 70s, Victor Hugo, assistant to Halston's creative director, gave me a wonderful gift of an all-silk parachute," Norma explains. "It was a vintage parachute from the Korean War. Since I was in the mode of making clothes from sleeping bags, African mud cloth, tablecloths, and chenille bedspreads, he thought this was a perfect fit for me. I promised I would make him a jumpsuit from the parachute and I did, but I also made skirts, jackets, gowns, big bags, pants, swimsuits, tops, and just about anything you can think of."
Shop all Norma Kamali here.
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HALF SKIRT in parachute pink
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FISHTAIL LONG SKIRT in black
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sleeveless coat dress in pink
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empire coat dress in parachute white
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Victorian camisole in black
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Victorian camisole in parachute pink
The pieces have a history as amazing as Norma's: a parachute cocoon coat made a cameo in The Wiz (yes, the one with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson) and world record holder Pam Sarnoff wore an NK parachute flight suit on her round-the-world flight in 1976. But how did it all begin? We asked Norma...
"In the early 70s, Victor Hugo, assistant to Halston's creative director, gave me a wonderful gift of an all-silk parachute," Norma explains. "It was a vintage parachute from the Korean War. Since I was in the mode of making clothes from sleeping bags, African mud cloth, tablecloths, and chenille bedspreads, he thought this was a perfect fit for me. I promised I would make him a jumpsuit from the parachute and I did, but I also made skirts, jackets, gowns, big bags, pants, swimsuits, tops, and just about anything you can think of."
Shop all Norma Kamali here.
HALF SKIRT in parachute pink
FISHTAIL LONG SKIRT in black
sleeveless coat dress in pink
empire coat dress in parachute white
Victorian camisole in black
Victorian camisole in parachute pink