3 Surprising Thoughts from Norma Kamali and Kerry Diamond's Conversation at NYFW
I said no to multiple fashion week events this year, for one simple reason: every person who inquired with me for poetic entertainment for the week wanted me to work for free.
On the one hand, it felt like a bit of a bummer, but on the other, I felt that my ability to reject these requests actually reinforced my boundaries and lifted my self-worth overall. So when I saw that one of my favorite IG accounts, @cherrybombe, was hosting a complimentary invites-for-fans-only conversation with iconic designer Norma Kamali I thought, “this is the only fashion week event I want to attend this year.”
The Glenlivet surprising us at 2pm
The event was hosted in the sumptuous Sunken Living Room at Spring Place, and presented in partnership with The Glenlivet, which has fascinated me of late with their artful and concentrated campaign to bring scotch into the Millennial Women’s market. And…I think it’s working? Would I order a Glenlivet now after trying their smooth and spicy scotch old fashioned this week? Honestly, maybe. And that’s more than half the battle in a complex and competitive spirits marketplace.
But I digress, as it is a Tuesday morning and you probably need your wisdom stat before your next meeting.
Three Thoughts from Norma Kamali x Kerry Diamond
Kamali x Diamond on stage at Spring Place
Our mothers don’t always have faith in or support our creative dreams. Norma’s mom tried (and failed) to force her to take typing classes back in the 50s/60s because their were literally no other jobs for women back then. Kerry’s mother too made her take a typing class, decades later. I was surprised to know the same exact phenomenon occurred to both women, a generation apart. It only makes their success seem all that much sweeter now, to be honest. I wonder what their moms think of their work now - I know my mom has come around and is now one of my biggest fans.
Our careers can change and evolve. And we have SO. MUCH. TIME. Kamali started out at FIT to be a painter. And the first iteration of her fashion line ended in a divorce and her not even being able to use her OWN NAME as her brand for awhile. It’s not a “failure” if you set out to do something and pivot. I myself have experienced SO many pivots over the course of only about 12 years for real career work, and for a long time I rued the fact that I had not “gotten it right” on the first try and struck my vocation in my first career path. Now I can already see my life’s purpose was evolving and emerging the whole time. Seeing the vital, jubilant, and creatively humming 74-year-old Kamali on stage, I felt a deep sense of patient anticipation of the potential I have, and what amazing things will come in the next few decades.
You are not broken or alone in the struggle of being pressured to work for free, or below your value. In the Q+A at the end of her talk, my question to her was “how have you dealt with being asked to work for free or lower your rates, as a woman, in this industry, in general?” And Kamali’s clear and self-assured answer was, “It’s going to happen. It’s normal. Everyone will try to take advantage of you - not because of you, but just because it is human nature to do so. All you have to do is remind yourself over and over: you will have another opportunity to show your creativity and your great work, and you won’t regret walking away from something that is beneath you.” I’ve honestly never felt so seen from across a crowded velvet scotch-infused room before.
one of our most festive typewriters
Have a wonderful rest of your week of LOVE, and get in touch any time to learn more about booking our poets, speakers, teachers, tarot readers, astrologers, calligraphers, content creators, and more for your events, projects, and creative needs worldwide.
We are celebrating Gal + Valentines this week, Black History Month this month, Women’s History Month in March, and National Poetry Month and Earth Day in April. As you know, we plant a tree for every poem we write.
Much love.