One highlight of this season’s Fashion’s Night Out: Designer Prabal Gurung was selected by CFDA to display his works on the windows of Reed Krakoff’s flagship store on Madison Avenue. [break]
The main show, however, will be on Saturday when Prabal presents his eponymous label’s much anticipated Spring 2012 collection. The event will be hosted in the IAC Headquarters’ building designed by architect Frank Gehry.
Varsha Thapa, a 20-year-old Nepali model, will also be making her international runway debut at the show.
SPRING 2012 COLLECTION
Prabal Gurung’s (PG) Spring 2012 Collection comes on the heels of a highly successful reception for the PG resort line launched in July, and the CFDA Swarovski Womenswear Designer award that Prabal won in June. Not to mention, actress Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) has appeared in four different PG pieces at public events in the last four weeks.
This season, PG will show 38 looks with one model per look. Those who have been watching the label’s collections will probably be delightfully surprised by the colors, patterns and the boldness that will flow on his runway tomorrow.
Model Varsha Thapa with fashion designer Prabal Gurung at the designer’s studio in New York. Varsha will be making her international runway debut at his show in New York Fashion Week on Saturday.
“This collection is really pushing the limits and boundaries,” Prabal explained, as he took a quick lunch break days before the show. “It’s inspired by a series of work on sensual flowers by the Japanese artist Nobuyoshi Araki. If you look from afar, the flowers are pretty; but if you look up close, there’s a sense of a little bit of perverted feel to it.”
On a more technical level, the process started with designing patterns and fabrics, and producing them with the help of a company based in the UK.
“Nothing is off the shelf, it’s all custom-designed,” the designer added, talking of the materials used for this collection.
There are a lot of pieces produced with variations on silk in white, violet, purple, and turquoise colors, and some edgy and playful use of shear. Previewing the collection, it wasn’t hard to miss a beautiful well-cut dress in white matelasse, and another piece that was produced by weaving together multiple fabrics which ended up producing some dramatic effects that resembled thick purple paint dripping down the legs. A couple of strong black and white combinations with sharp cuts stand out, too, as does a top that uses feathers. There are a couple of shorts, and a t-shirt might even make it to the runway this time.
WAIT, THERE IS MORE.
“What is considered fetish? Nylon, mesh, latex!” Prabal continued. “We’ve included those materials with careful consideration.” In other words, the PG team gave it a couture treatment. There is hand-painted latex, custom-made laces, and laser-cut leather mesh.
1. Show cards of models, including Varsha Thapa’s, for the Prabal Gurung show on a board at the designer’s studio.
2. Sketch and fabric samples for a piece from the Prabal Gurung Spring 2012 collection.
“At this point, we were also able to look back on our collections and refer to our own style vocabulary,” Tyler Rose, the Design Director of PG, said of the styles they decided to work with.
“By this time, we’ve understood the way the company and our collection are growing and we’ve found our followers. But we’ve also realized what works for us commercially, and mainly for the runway shows. What works for us is the unexpected,” Prabal elaborated.
NEW COLLECTION, NEW COLLABORATIONS
One of the key collaborations in PG’s Spring 2012 Collection will be reflected in the accessories category. While some items are best left in the shade for a surprise, a prominent accessory in keeping with the design inspiration will be the work of 23-year-old Zana Bayne. Her credits already include designing leather harnesses for Lady Gaga’s tour and music video for the single “You and I.”
Zana’s collaboration with Prabal will be her first runway show.
“We worked with Zana for the harnesses and decided to figure out how we could cut the sweetness out of otherwise pretty clothes,” explained Prabal. The desired effect is pleasantly achieved. The harnesses rob just the right amount of innocence off those floral printed pieces and, combined with the sheer fabric, add a sense of risky edginess.
WHEN PRABAL MET VARSHA
Varsha, a graduate of Hospitality Management, arrived in New York as a model represented by Wilhelmina Modeling Agency two months ago. She immediately became the first Nepali model represented by a major agency in America. On August 4, her agency set up an appointment for her with Prabal. Within minutes after the meeting ended, Prabal wrote on his Facebook account: “Just met Varsha Thapa...She’s stunning, smart, sweet [and] humble.”
She was also confirmed to walk Prabal’s show, he announced online.
Since having arrived in New York, Varsha has been mentored by her scout, Roman Young. It was Roman who discovered Selita Ebanks and helped her become a Victoria’s Secret Angels.
“He has helped me with everything from my walk to advising me on what to wear when I go for casting calls,” Varsha said, beaming with excitement.
Earlier this week, on a single day, Varsha had casting calls scheduled with 19 designers. Impressively, she made it to 18 of them. The grueling nature of the industry is the norm, especially for Fashion Week. But Varsha has also been sent to casting calls at some of the industry’s biggest names like Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, an indication of where her agency thinks her potential lies and looks fit.
In a brief profile in Republica last year, Varsha had said that it was her dream to walk for Roberto Cavalli.
AND NOW?
“I still think he’s a good designer, but personally I feel what I really want is to be the face of a brand like Calvin Klein,” she said of her evolved view on her career trajectory. “And Victoria’s Secret is definitely a dream.”
Right now, Varsha is literally walking to realizing those dreams. While at press time, it wasn’t certain what shows she might be walking this Fashion Week. She could only gush with excitement about the one show that’s been confirmed for a month.
On Saturday, Varsha will be sharing the runway on Prabal’s show with models such as Karlie Kloss whose dramatic opening of Prabal’s show last season was one of the Fashion Week highlights. Karlie has also been the face of major brands like Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes, and appeared in ad campaigns for Donna Karan as well as in several Vogue editorials, and at least one cover.
The sense of opportunity and possibility is not lost on Varsha.
“I mean, these were people I used to see on TV, and now I’m seeing them in real life, working with them,” she said. “I know that if I continue to work hard, I can achieve what I’ve set out to do.”
It was this sense of dedicated drive towards a clear goal that impressed Prabal early on.
CURTAIN CALL
Prabal spent parts of Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons previewing his new collection for the heavyweights: Vogue, Style, New York Times’ T Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Women’s Wear Daily. Wednesday also saw models coming in and out of the studio for their final fittings, followed by hair and makeup on Thursday. How the industry’s top editors, buyers and critics respond will be known on Saturday afternoon, soon after the show, scheduled to start at 12 noon, ends.
Prabal and his team, meantime, are all pleased and confident about the collection, and waiting to show it to the world.
You can follow the author on Twitter @kashishds and email him at kashish@350nepal.org
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