Norma Kamali on the Power of Red Lipstick and Life in her Twenties
Photo: Courtesy of Norma Kamali
Norma Kamali is thetype of woman about who mothers and daughters agree: We want to be her. The designer, who founded her namesake line of sleek separates and statement sleeping-bag coats in the late ‘60s, exudes an evergreen cool—youthful, bold, and chic beyond measure—that seems to defy the laws of gravity. And yet even mere mortals can learn a thing or two from the demigoddess. At least, we hope. We asked Kamali to share just a little bit of her magic with us.
Related: Aerin Lauder’s Advice for Twenty-Somethings
Mattie Kahn: What is your earliest memory of makeup?
Norma Kamali: I was maybe 6 years old and I remember watching my mother put red lipstick on.
The sound of the cap on the sink. The strokes on each side of her upper lip and them one very sure stroke on the bottom lip. Blotting her lips on a folded tissue, putting the cap back on and with her red nails an exact match to her lips!
MK: What beauty secrets did you pick up from the family matriarchs?
NK: Olive oil is nature’s beauty product for inside [and] outside beauty.
MK: Go ahead, spill: What’s the biggest beauty blunder you made in your twenties?
NK: Okay, I teased my hair at least 5 inches high, put on individual lashes top and bottom, and [wore] full pancake makeup.
Photo: Courtesy of Norma Kamali
MK: What did you wear to your first serious job interview? If you could do it all over again, how would you dress?
NK: Very conservative: white shirt, black skirt and heels. It did not go well. Instead of looking at my portfolio, the interviewer asked me to turn around for him!
MK: What’s one piece of advice you would give yourself at twenty-two?
NK: Do exactly what you’re doing. It’s creative and fun. There will be no other time it will be appropriate.
MK: What was the most important change you made in your twenties?
NK: I got married at 19, opened my company at 24, got a divorce at 29, and was on my own at 30; hence my logo OMO Norma Kamali.
Related: What Kerry Diamond Learned in Her 20s
MK: What is your favorite scent?
NK: Restore by Intelligent Nutrients.
MK: You feel most beautiful when you…?
NK: When I laugh.
MK: When you’re feeling restless, you…?
NK: Work out!
MK: When you want to feel powerful, you…?
NK: Become vulnerable.
Fill in the blank: When you grow up, you hope you look and feel as good as Rachel Robinson does.
