Everlast Worldwide Inc. (New York), best known for manufacturing boxing gloves and trunks, has announced an agreement between fashion designer Norma Kamali and Everlast women's apparel licensee Jacques Moret Inc. to design and manufacture a contemporary sportswear/lifestyle collection under the Norma Kamali and Everlast brands.
The collection will debut at the Fashion Coterie Show in New York in September, and will be aimed at better department and specialty stores beginning with the spring 2006 season.
Kamali has long been known as an innovative designer who invented things like the sleeping bag coat, a collection of styles created from actual parachutes, and high-heeled sneakers. She has a plaque on the Fashion Walk of Fame and this year received a special tribute award from the Board of Directors of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
“I am very much at home doing this collection since it is where I left off with the sweats in the 1980s,” Kamali said. “This is still one of my favorite collections and it's lots of fun to design.”
“There is a genuine connection between Norma Kamali and Everlast, as both are timeless and part of Americana,” said Jacques Moret ceo Joey Harary. “We are very excited to be working with Norma in the contemporary market.”
Everlast, which has been associated with sporting goods equipment since 1910, was purchased by Active Apparel Group in 2000.