S5 Ep1: Norma Kamali

True Tales of Luxury

Age is but a number for Norma Kamali. Five decades at the centre of the fashion industry has neither slowed nor dimmed the 74-year-old designer’s passion for her work and the causes she champions, as Mariella discovers.

“I don’t see a lack of opportunity for myself. I have plans for things I’m doing next; I met my soulmate at 65 years old! I still have the spirit I want.”

In 1976, a young Farrah Fawcett – then on the cusp of Charlie’s Angels fame – was snapped by Hollywood photographer Bruce McBroom. The effect was instant. Everything from Fawcett’s flicked tresses to her scarlet Norma Kamali bathing suit (now a permanent exhibit of the Smithsonian) was immortalised in fashion’s hall of fame. Yet Kamali is so much more than a swimwear designer. Feminist trailblazer, woman’s woman; her ‘Stop Objectification’ campaign is on a mission to empower women from the inside out, starting with self-esteem.