A CORNUCOPIA of colour dominated the runway Sunday night during Prabal Gurung’s AW2019 show in New York. The collection, which the Nepalese-American designer titled Suitcases of the World, was envisioned through the lens of a glamourous immigrating travelling the world.
This vision played out as an explosion of colours, styles and genres, which felt masterful but overwhelming at times. It was a sporty and refreshing collection. There were mixed pattern silky blouses paired with ruffled asymmetric skirts, brightly-coloured duvet-like belted coats, Bill Blass-seventies style ladylike suiting with strong shoulders and draped lines. He also added in hand-painted floral landscape prints and hippie-worthy tie-dye prints for a cool but almost whimsical touch.
There were beautiful matte jersey dresses with fringed neckline accents and mixed floral-print dresses. Standout pieces looked appropriately devil-may-care for that nomadic traveller: a silk scarf thrown here, a fringed neckline accent there or a bright sash, made extra glam with extra-long Tasaki earrings from a recent collaboration.
The strongest pieces were reinvented classics: an updated draped dress with striking multi-colour patchwork and a gorgeous button waist detail with cutouts; and bright turquoise pleated trousers with a ruffled pink-and-red silk blouse. But, the sheer volume of prints and patterns from houndstooth jackets to sparkly evening dresses to flouncy gauze day-dresses was at times hard to process. The nomad surely needed many suitcases and even a porter to carry them all.
by Jessica Quillin