As fashion weeks kick off again, New York’s is the first to lead the shows.
From Singapore–born Nepalese–American designer Prabal Gurung to Nigerian-born designer in New York, Taofeek Abijako, and Indian Kanika Goyal, established names to young up-and-comers pave a path for future trends on the runways.
Here are some of the highlights since New York Fashion Week began on Thursday.
Prabal Gurung explores impermanence
Prabal Gurung was thinking deep this season. He installed a mirrored square runway reflecting an opulent blue light display at the main branch of the New York Public Library for a fashion week show on Friday, exploring the Buddhist concept of “anichya”, or impermanence.
In butterfly motifs, wool jackets and hues of vermilion, saffron, burgundy and dusty pinks, Gurung was thinking of his homeland, Nepal, where he hasn’t been since before the pandemic. He was motivated by a 10-day meditative retreat he recently experienced to “silence everything”.
“In Nepal, we talk about it all the time, what is present and how soon it can go,” he told The Associated Press in a backstage interview. “And there’s actually an optimism to that, especially during these challenging times.”
The idea, in part, was finding hope “in the dark places,” he said. “There’s light after darkness.”
His silhouettes were sharper and longer this time around. His asymmetry challenged the idea of harmony. He draped softly and provided sharp angles at the same time. There were fluid, gliding skirts, wool jackets and glitzy golds and crystals.
In short, Gurung explained, New York Fashion Week for him was a “magical, mystery journey. An inward spiritual journey” taken at night back home in Nepal.
Having grown up with “impermanence,” Gurung said, he wanted to embrace the notion that nothing is fixed but constant shifts need not be feared. They must be embraced, he said,…
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