Prabal Gurung

Prabal Gurung launched his eponymous collection in February 2009 with a philosophy encompassing modern luxury, indelible style and an astute sense of glamour. The Spring 2012 collection marked the seventh season for the American designer.

Gurung was born in Singapore and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. It was in New Delhi, India that his design career truly began.  While studying at New Delhi’s National Institute of Fashion Technology, Gurung freelanced at several production and fashion houses and apprenticed with Manish Arora. His travels took him to Melbourne and London, where he assisted stylists for various fashion shows and editorials at international publications. In 1999, Gurung moved to New York City. He began his career in New York interning for Donna Karan while attending Parsons School of Design. In his first year, he was awarded the “Best Designer” title at the annual Parsons / FIT design competition. 

After Parsons, Gurung spent two years with Cynthia Rowley’s design and production team, which allowed him to gain even more invaluable experience within the fashion industry. Soon after, he was appointed design director at the iconic Bill Blass. After five successful years, Gurung left his post at Blass to launch his own collection, PRABAL GURUNG.

A focus on quality and innovation has placed Gurung at the forefront of emerging American fashion with designs worn by leading ladies including First Lady Michelle Obama, Demi Moore, and Zoe Saldana, to name a few. In 2010 he was the recipient of the Ecco Domani Fashion Fund Award and was selected as runner up for the 2010 CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund. In 2011 Gurung was honored as one of USA Network’s twelve Character Approved Award recipients, named goodwill ambassador of Maiti Nepal and was a finalist of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in the Fashion Design category.  Most recently, Gurung was awarded the 2011 CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswer.