Prabal Gurung’s penchant for creating gorgeous prints and figure-skimming dresses has long inspired devotion,but the New York-based designer’s unabashedly body positive attitude just made us fall in love all over again.
In an interview with Cosmopolitan, he called out designers who refuse to design for or dress women over a certain dress size: “These designers are lazy. They’re lazy! It’s not harder at all. Everyone’s body is different, even size 4, 6, 8. It’s always going to be different, but that’s what designing is. It is problem-solving. It’s not just adding glitter and embroidery and calling it a day. ”
Amen to that. And it’s not all talk, either. Gurung has created a second capsule collection for Lane Bryant following the success of the one he did last season, which will be available for purchase September 25. A Nepalese-American who was born in Singapore, Gurung is also known for championing racial, gender identity, and size diversity in his runway shows, which have featured models like Candice Huffine, Ashley Graham, Andreja Pejic, Herieth Paul,JiHye Park, and Grace Mahary. His eponymous line also goes up to asize 22, a rarity in the world of high fashion, although he has complained before that few stores buy from him past a size 12.
In the same interview, Gurung credits the internet with forcing change upon the fashion industry, saying: “The fashion industry got away with its bad behavior for the longest time. It is very high school, mean girls. The reason we’re seeing this now is because the digital world made everything transparent and gave the power to the people, and the people called it out, demanded a change. It is still far behind, though. ”
And here we thought the internet was just good for memes and animal videos. Gurung also named fellow designersChristian Siriano and Michael Costello, both of whom are known for dressing non-sample size celebrities the red carpet, as forces for positive change in the industry. But he also notes that there’s still a long way to go, especially when it comes to the notoriously exclusive European fashion scene.
