Magazine, Entertainment, Culled From, Fox News
Designer Prabal Gurung made a different kind of fashion statement on the runway during his New York Fashion Week show on Sunday, sending models down the catwalk with beauty pageant-style sashes that asked “Who gets to be American?”
“I wanted to explore this idea of what America looks like, what Americana looks like, who does America belong to? For me, as an immigrant who came here almost 20 years ago, I came here to chase the American dream of hope, of possibility,” Gurung, a native of Nepal, told The Associated Press backstage.
The designer shared that he recently mentioned during a meeting that he wanted to define a new America before someone else in the room challenged him with the reply: “Well, you don’t look American.”
Gurung said it was crystal clear “what the implication was.” In a larger sense, the encounter got him thinking.
“What does America mean? America to me is the sum of all things,” he said. “Everyone coming together, and that’s the America I came for.”
In the NYFW presentation, which marked the 10th anniversary of his eponymous brand’s showing, Gurung hoped to examine “the root of American identity” and sent models down the runway in denim, white poplin fabrics, patchwork prints, cowboy boots, juxtaposing sportswear influences and grand colorful gowns, Harper’s Bazaar reports. Read More
