For spring, Norma Kamali reissued (with some updates) and expanded on her famous sweats collection of 1980, which won her a Coty Award. “I literally knocked myself off,” the designer said with a delighted smile. That Kamali cut humble terry cloth fabric into fashionable garments meant not for the gym but the office and the dance floor was considered revolutionary at the time. (Plus ça change: Decades earlier fashion had been shocked by Coco Chanel’s elevation of jersey.)
While Kamali stressed that she took this decision because “it’s very sort of sober and clean . . . and it feels right for now,” she’s not unaware that she’s having a moment. Not only were the fall 2025 collections full of Kamalisms, but in June vintage dealer Juno de la Cruz started an Instagram page, Kamali Club, on which Chloë Sevigny, a long-time fan of the designer, has been active. Kamali’s 1980 collection was certainly a breakthrough moment, but, she emphasized, “It took me 14 years before I did the sweats, to be global, for me to know I could pay the rent.”
There are many reasons why the sweats seem in sync with the current moment, among them ’80s revivalism, a desire for comfort, and the evolution of the active trend into something that is less referential to the originals. Then there’s the unrelenting news cycle which has a lot of customers feeling cautious about where they put their money. For them, the designer introduced the Norma Kamali Lifestyle line of basics, all priced under $200. There’s no need to be drab, however; the designer intermingled sweats looks with silver lamé to vary textures. Other surface treatments include corded embroidery, and there was a peek-a-boo damask on mesh.
With the exception of a pink group, and some grays and silvers, this print-free collection was black and white, all the better to show off dramatic shoulder treatments. Adding a bit of softness to the offering was a segment of bohemian looks, including an off-the-shoulder stunner with extended handkerchief sleeves. One of the designs Kamali was most excited about was flat-front men’s-style pants in the gray terry. Like many pieces in the lineup they are, she noted “very sober and clean, which feels right, but also fun because of what it is.”