Prabal Gurung Presents a 'West Meets East' Collection for Spring 2024

Ana Colón

September 8, 2023 at 8:22 PM·4 min read

<p>Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight</p> — Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

A little rain wasn't going to discourage the fashion crowd from trekking out to Roosevelt Island for Prabal Gurung's Spring 2024 show. (Not going to lie: Taking the tram has been one of the highlights of my New York Fashion Week. Love public transport!) After all, the designer's known for his bold use of color and print — what better way to brighten their day?

The new collection has color, of course, but Gurung's proposition for the season also embraces a more neutral palette, with a greater emphasis on materiality and technique, inspired by a recent trip to India to visit his grandmother — more specifically, the patinaed wallpaper in her home and pictures of his aunts coming to America, mixing their saris with designer jackets.

"In the culture, there's so much conversation about East meeting West, but it's time the West meets the East," he says. "I've always loved the collaging of ideas, of continents, of gender. It started with that and with this idea of: How do you decolonize our taste, our eyes, what we love, what we think is cool, what we think?"

Gurung wanted to incorporate elements of traditional Eastern wear — such as draping or playing with a "humble fabric" like linen — into contemporary Western ready-to-wear. For example, there are a series of sculptural tops that look like panniers, but were actually inspired by the clothing worn by folk dancers in India, reinterpreted and rendered in linen. Then, the embroideries and prints are reimaginings of his grandmother's wallpaper.

"I myself am in the process of figuring out my own eye, my own taste and how it has been informed. My goal is never to dictate. My goal is to start a dialogue, always."

Gurung was meditating on this idea of cultural appropriation and the fear that often surrounds it, specifically from people who are genuinely interested in a certain culture but fear offending or misunderstanding. "I want to create a world where all of us can be curious and unafraid, make mistakes and not be completely afraid," he says. "The collection is a celebration."

Though these are issues Gurung has examined in his work before, the designer's Spring 2024 collection heralds a new direction for the brand. On a material level, there's the big focus on linen, in many different forms: starched, washed, pleated, hand-embroidered. "I grew up loving linen, but I stopped using it when I was in America because I was told Americans don't wear it," he says. "We washed it, pleated it and then treated it almost how I would treat a silk taffeta."

Like in the past few seasons, there's a considered shift toward daywear, with less classic evening fare (for which Gurung has become known, especially among Hollywood circles). The collection incorporates fitted tops with loose trousers, mid-calf hemlines and boxy jackets. Even the more formal looks feel less red carpet, more occasional-fancy-function.

"There's an ease to the collection, I think, Gurung admits. "At the end of the day, I hope my customers, wherever they live, realize we're a lot alike them."

See Prabal Gurung's Spring 2024 collection below.