PRABAL Gurung is living proof that dreams do come true. How else could one possibly explain the meteoric rise to success that the young designer has achieved in the ridiculously short span of time since he started his eponymous label?
Add to that the fact that there were many things going against Gurung when he first launched his own brand a year ago - the economic downturn was in full swing, consumers were wary of new labels not to mention the biggest problem - that people just weren't keen to spend money, and thousands of dollars at that.
And yet, Gurung, whose designs don't come cheap (roughly US$750 for a simple dress to more than US$10,000 for a gown) managed to buck the trend with his sharp tailoring, eye for luscious fabrics and an ever sleeker sense of style.
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Designs by Prabal Gurung.
'At a time, where everyone was all about bodycon dresses, I did something off the cuff,' he reveals. 'I gave them beautiful, wearable pieces of clothing that had longevity because they were so classic, and people responded to it.' Celebrities - read Demi Moore, Leighton Meester and Cary Mulligan - became his fans; Oprah Winfrey wore his dress on the cover of her magazine 'O' last November and the fashion critics including Anna Wintour love him to bits. But that's not all. Back in January he told glamour.com that he would love to dress Michelle Obama and two months later she wore one of his dresses for an official engagement. Just a few days after that, news arrived that he had been nominated for a CFDA Award (the fashion Oscars) in the emerging talent category - talk about the icing on the cake.
Yes, Gurung's stock is riding so high at the moment that even he finds it difficult to believe.
'It's incredible - like a fairytale,' he gushes on the phone. 'I'm the kind of designer that doesn't expect things so everything that has happened to me in the context of the past year has been an absolute surprise to me. I'm living the American dream.' More importantly perhaps, his fame transcends him - it has also helped more people to pay attention to Asia, in particular Nepal.
'You know, the dress (that Michelle Obama wore) was bigger than me,' he reveals. 'It was amazing in that it drew positive recognition for a nation that doesn't always get a voice. I may only be contributing in a small way, but if there are just two more people who now know where Nepal is because of me, then I feel very blessed.' One can only hope then, that it is only a matter of time that Gurung manages to do the same for Singapore.
After all, little known fact though it is, Prabal Gurung was born here - 'somewhere in Thomson,' is all he can remember - where he lived for about five years before his family relocated to Nepal. True, Gurung isn't quite a Singaporean - he holds a Nepalese passport - but for a country that has had little beyond Ashley Isham, Andrew Gn and previously Wykidd Song to wax lyrical about, Gurung might just be the closest thing to a rising fashion star that we have.
At the very least, Singapore is a country that remains close to Gurung's heart.
'My parents started their family in Singapore - my siblings and I, we were all born in Singapore,' he exclaims.
'I'm the youngest of the three so I spent the least amount of time in the country. But my brother and sister, they both went to school in Singapore and because my parents had spent quite awhile in the country, for the longest time, even when we moved back to Nepal, our family had a very Singaporean accent!
'Although I haven't really been back for a long time, I've been meaning to, especially since all my family members have and I still have cousins and friends to visit in Singapore!' It makes sense then, that it would be a dream come true for Gurung to find a local stockist for his label, especially now that he's looking to break into the international market. 'Showing during fashion week really opens a lot of doors for you,' he remarks on his first ever show during New York Fashion Week earlier in February.
'We opened an account in Paris, one more in Tokyo and a few more in the Middle East. It's only our third season, and we already have 23 doors! I was just commenting to my sales director that we've had a lot of exposure in Nepal and India but not Singapore!'
But lest we think that Gurung is an overnight success - like Alexander Wang and the guys behind Proenza Schouler who were talent-spotted right out of school, he insists that he has more than paid his dues to get to where he is.
Indeed, despite his label's rapid rise to success, Gurung himself has been waiting for this time, for quite awhile. Upon graduating from fashion school in India, he decided to eschew starting his own label then, instead moving all the way to America to study at the famed design school, Parsons where he cut his teeth interning for Donna Karan.
Upon graduation, he went on to work for Cynthia Rowley for three years before moving to Bill Blass to take on the position of creative director. School, he says, 'teaches you how to design, but doesn't tell you anything about actual production. I chose to work for other houses first because I wanted to be aware of what is really needed to run a successful fashion houses before I started my own.'
While he's learnt a lot from both stints, he maintains that in terms of design, it's all his own.
'My work isn't really influenced by either Cynthia Rowley or Bill Blass,' he points out. 'I do however, take elements of what I've learnt from them and use it when creating my pieces. From Bill Blass, I'm inspired by how they made well-constructed, timeless pieces of clothing and from Cynthia, I learnt the importance of comfort, to always think about the women you are designing for.'
Luckily for him, he laughs, the women who wear his clothes tend to be 'far from ditsy'.
'I'm a full on believer that if there were more women in power, the world would be a better place because they're less egoistical,' he concludes. 'I think women are beautiful, sensual and interesting. I always say that if I can somehow enhance that experience of feeling beautiful through my clothes, even for a minute, then it's a job well done. '
This article was first published in The Business Times.
