New York Fashion Week: Prabal Gurung autumn/winter 2013

Post storm Nemo, editors, buyers and all of fashion industry folk trooped out to the shows with great resolve only to be battered by 40 miles per hour chill winds on the Westside Highway as we entered the Prabal Gurung show. The audience was keen to be swept away by Gurung's penchant for creating red carpet hits, having recently dressed the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Marion Cotillard and January Jones. What we got though was a uniform of resilience that befitted the harsh winds lashing about outside in New York.


Military loden green dominated the opening passage in the form of fur-trimmed outerwear shaped with sharp peplums and similarly sculpted dresses. A rich imperial brocade crept into the nipped-in silhouettes, often unified by leather harnesses, created in collaboration with local leatherwear designer Zana Bayne.

The Prabal woman can't march out in strict uniforms alone though and as expected, satin in shades of navy, ruby red and olive were draped into uni-thigh exposing dress (all the better for starlets to do an "Angelina" and put their best foot forward).

As lauded and well publicised as this young New York designer has been, we're still not quite sure as to what Gurung's exact design signature is. His past collections have often gone down the path of throwing too much into the kitchen; everything from digital prints to luxe sportswear to overly decorated evening gowns.

This time round, looking to the recent US army policy to adapt military uniforms due to the growing number of female troops as well as researching the all female, empowered Ukrainian Asgarda tribe, gave this show much needed focus, especially when it came to showcasing Gurung's precise tailoring and draping skills. Dressing young Hollywood is all well and good but catering to the consumer at large is definitely something that this evolved collection attempts to address with its stab at creating depth and variety.

Nobody could accuse Gurung of merely pleasing the rarified few though. At the beginning of this New York Fashion Week, Gurung launched his first high street collaboration with American chain store Target, in line with their tradition of working with young American designers. The collection goes on sale today in America and judging by the Twitter buzz and bombardment of TV promo ads, it promises to be a sell-out hit.