Prabal Gurung’s fall 2024 collection was designed out of his grief, with the designer creating silhouettes that offered a balance of warmth and melancholy through tactile fabrics, sculptural silhouettes and ethereal gowns.
Gurung explained the collection was informed by a loss in his home country of Nepal, which gave him the opportunity to look over his old diaries, examining sketches, doodles and dried flowers he had collected in his earlier years.
“It was to give into grief,” Gurung said backstage. “That was a new thing for me, but I decided to give in simply because that was the only way that I could go through it, which took me back to my father’s side of the family — which I normally have stayed away from, to be completely honest — and it led to these images and everything. It was just so cathartic and so healing, so I brought this to life because it gave me comfort.”
There was a somber feel throughout the collection, reflected through heavy outerwear like a sherpa bomber and an oversize shearling coat, as well as the more structured styles, like a tuxedo set paired with a sculptural top and a denim jumpsuit. While somber, the pieces delivered a sense of warmth through enveloping silhouettes and cozy fabrics.
Gurung balanced these heavier looks with his signature feminine styles, like several handmade fringe pieces and a set of organza draped gowns that ended the show. This gave the collection an ethereal feel that reflected the designer’s unending upbeat spirit and showed how he’s able to stay true to himself while continuing to offer newness each season.
“I live in the two dichotomies of the East and the West,” he said. “This is a continuous dialogue and that’s all that I know — and there’s so much to explore.”