DID YOU EVER THINK NORMA KAMALI WOULD DESIGN CLOTHING FOR WAL-MART?

Well, the answer is no and yes. If Isaac Mizrahi can design for Target and Vera Wang is designing for Kohls, then it was just a matter of time before a design maven like Kamali would take the plunge.

Money talks, I guess. As someone who shopped at the Norma Kamali store off Fifth Avenue in New York City, it comes as a surprise to me that Kamali, the designer to the stars, would plunk down fabric and create garments for the blue collar.

There were days when you only saw celebs and city slickers shopping at the historic and regal Kamali store in NYC. But things have changed (they say change is good…but I’m not always in favor of it), and I suppose the money is great.

The collection, to be produced via a licensing agreement with Cherokee Inc., Norma Kamali and Wal-Mart, will be offered in select Wal-Mart stores in fall 2008.

Kamali joined forces with sportswear brand Everlast and Spiegel in 2006 to bring her brand to a wider female audience (you can say that again….in the olden days all the sizes went from 0 to 6). If you weighed more than 100 pounds soaking wet you were almost escorted out the door.

Ms. Kamali will carry the Wal-Mart collection in her store on 56th Street in New York. "It's a great opportunity to do what I love to do," said Kamali, which ultimately for her is to help women look and feel great through well-designed clothes.”

"It's solving the problem that women all have with self-esteem – there are always a couple of days a month where we don't feel so great," she said.

In the case of her partnership with Wal-Mart, she'll be able to offer a self-esteem boost for her biggest audience yet, specifically targeting style-conscious people on a budget – students, for example, or women who have a family to take care of, she said.

"It's about good value at a good price. We're all looking for great prices."

For Kamali's collection for Wal-Mart, she said that you'll be able to build a full wardrobe with every collection, but emphasized that it will consist of "concepts, not pieces" that Kamali said will have a timeless quality." She said they'll be the look of-the-moment, but they'll still work five years from now and "not be boring." (I have to see it to believe it).

In other words, they'll make the wearer feel good, stylish, and fashionable without looking like a fashion victim.

"Products should be timeless," she said. "It's components that create style, rather than fashion that creates style."

The Wal-Mart collection by Norma Kamali will be an ongoing collaboration. "It was not a hot pursuit," she explained, "but it started to sound so exciting, with all the possibilities."