Strength of women celebrated at Prabal Gurung
With Gigi Hadid as his opener and her royally dressed sister, Bella, at the end, Prabal Gurung celebrated the strength, grace and resilience of women at New York Fashion Week in a collection full of vibrant purples, reds and blues, inspired in part by the women-led Mosuo tribe of China.
Gurung, raised by a single mother in Nepal, said in a backstage interview he’s had matriarchies on his mind for a collection over the past four or five years, deciding to go ahead with this one now amid the recent movements bringing women together to fight back against sexual misconduct and oppression around the world.
His bright pinks, some in lush cashmere and wool knits hand done in Nepal, and his sari and sarong-inspired draping, he said, were references to the Gulabi Gang of women activists in northern India. They “adorn themselves in pink saris symbolic of their self-proclaimed power and fearlessness,” Gurung said, as they come to the defence of women, vigilante style.
There were other elements, feather and sequin detailing, the use of velvet and pearls, that generally symbolized ceremonial wardrobes.
Gurung also embraced the practical, in shearling and quilted puffer jackets inspired by the need to trek.
He said he grew up in a culture where colour is celebrated in the clothes. After seeing the wear-black protest at the Golden Globes, he said he wanted to show women “in their full feminine glory.”
Back home, he said, “colour and texture was kind of unnerving for men.”