May 1, 2010 – This month we are featuring Prabal Gurung, a very successful Nepali fashion designer, currently residing in New York, who has made a mark of his own on the world of fashion with his unique design perspective.
“Fashion is a life style”, says Prabal when we asked him how he defines fashion.
Born in Singapore and raised in Kathmandu, Prabal attended the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi where his design career truly took off. While in India, he designed with Manish Arora, whom he counts among his favorite designers.
After completing studies in India, Prabal travelled to various cities from Melbourne to London assisting stylists for various fashion shows. After seven years of travelling around the world Prabal finally decided to move to New York in 1999.
As a student at Parsons School of Design in New York city, Prabal aced in all of his classes. On his first year as a student at the Parsons, he won the “Best Designer” award at the annual Parsons/Fit design competition. That followed with great review for his work from fashion critics. He was also featured by several media outlets, including the New York Times.
Prabal worked as an intern with Cynthia Rowleys design team and has also worked for Bill Blass, where he became the design director. After five successful years at Bill Blass, Prabal finally launched his own collection titled PRABAL GURUNG for Fall 2009 season.
Prabal was inspired to move to New York and work hard by an episode or Oprah’s Show, about following dreams. He has come a long way since then. His designs are now worn by Hollywood celebrities. Even Oprah herself wore his dress to shoot for cover of her magazine. On March 9th, 2010 first lady Michele Obama wore one of his dress, a black and white sleeveless with brush painted roses.
“Education is the most important thing in our life”, says Prabal who dearly loves Nepal and has a dream of opening a school back home. He talks about Nepal on almost all of his interviews, which he considers as something he is contributing to our dear motherland.
Prabal has been recently nominated for 2010 CFDA Fashion Awards in Womenswear.
We wish him Good luck with his career and thank him for the time he set aside to talk with us.
Brief Bio
Full Name: Prabal Gurung
Birth Place : Singapore
Current Residence : New York City
Education:
• National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi
• Parsons School of Design, New York City
Honors/Awards:
• “Best Designer” title at the annual Parsons/Fit design competition
• Nominated for CFDA Fashion Awards 2010
Contact:
Official Website – prabalgurung.com
Facebook Fan Page – facebook.com/prabalgurung
Twitter Profile – twitter.com/prabalgurung