Comments on: Kamali has moved production to the US

By: Andrea Klausner

Andrea Klausner — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:33:34 +0000

I have loved Norma Kamali designs since the 80’s and always kept my eyes open for new creative things she sold. I live in Los Angeles California and would like to find a larger collection if possible. Anything you can suggest will be appreciated. What a terrific designer. I LOVE YOU!

By: LisaB

LisaB — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:16:59 +0000

Ha. I don’t even remember looking at the model at the top of the page when I read this previously. I must have breezed right past.

To answer your question, this one doesn’t bother me as much as the Ralph Lauren simply because this gal doesn’t look emaciated to me. She simply has unnaturally long legs. Still, I’m tired of the Photoshopping….

By: Alison Cummins

Alison Cummins — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:48:07 +0000

Does the Photoshop job on the Kamali model at the top of the page bother people as much as this one (Ralph Lauren)?
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=7000

I mean, is the Kamali pic supposed to be obvious and artistic or is it supposed to be just a really looong model?

(Either way, it bothers me.)

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:11:11 +0000

More on Kamali's strategy is in this interview (video). Denise S provided the link.

By: christina cato

christina cato — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:06:31 +0000

This is a great article!! I have been really looking at sweater manufacturing in the U.S and the most efficient way to go about it. The lead times are ridiculous at times and the minimums required by overseas manufacturers can be daunting for a small design company. This touches on several points that I have thought about and helps with some of my justifications.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:41:12 +0000

WWD announced this morning that Kamali is launching an eBay line with goods priced under $250. She also has an iPhone app (free) that seems to be popular. She's pulling out all the stops!

By: Alicia

Alicia — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:46:37 +0000

I’m with Sandra B.-
Sounds like all the fashionistas I work with and sew for here in Honolulu. I just lost my day job as a secretary / interior designer and decided to take some sample and short run orders for extra cash. Even though there is a fashion designer networking group here they have minimal to no connections to local contractors and established garment manufacturers. Do we have to keep reinventing the wheel?!? Problems everywhere and I can barely charge minimum wage, certainly not enough to live on. All the local people who are mildly sucessful here have either their own in-house manufacturing operations (more mid and large scale retailers and brands than you would think still do made in hawaii, mostly using cheap immigrant workers) or they contract out to the highly in demand local contractors. I find myself in a pickle like everyone else, trying to get into a dying/newborn industry with very little guidance. Because I believe small and Local can be in demand if manufactured, branded and marketed well, and it offers us something better to work for.

By: Anaka Narayanan

Anaka Narayanan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:15:43 +0000

Wow, Kathleen! What a great post, filled with information and very progressive as well. I know that in India a lot of export factories have closed down or they have started thinking about producing for the domestic market because many of their overseas buyers have shifted to China or Bangladesh or someplace cheaper. At my own production unit I don’t consider my tailors’ salaries cheap at all. Granted, it’s all relative and I’m talking cheap for Indian standards, but as the Indian economy grows, it will be harder to find good quality tailors unless one is willing to pay for them. Many tailors leave the industry for a job as a cashier at a supermarket or something totally different as long as the salary is higher- another indication that “cheap manufacturing” is not sustainable in India.

By: emily

emily — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:09:20 +0000

Does anyone know where the production is in the US? I’m curious if it is NY, LA or somewhere else…

Thanks!

By: dosfashionistas

dosfashionistas — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:53:06 +0000

Norma Kamali is right on track! I hope she is able to work out the details. I have been thinking for years now that the key to selling fashion right now is not only lean manufacturing, but lean retailing as well. When the designer becomes totally disconnected from the customer (ie the woman wearing the clothes) and is instead selling what the stores want…..what can we expect but dissatisfaction. So she is going to sell to the real customer. Go Norma!!

Hope I get to stay around long enough to see what happens with this. I want to see how we are sewing and selling 20 years from now.