NEW YORK (AP) ā Designer Prabal Gurung has First, it was through the colorful, Nepal-inspired designs that helped him find early success in the cutthroat fashion world. Now, heās sharing his life story in words with his bold new memoir, āWalk Like A Girl.ā
The book, out Tuesday from Penguin Random House, traces his South Asian roots ā born in Singapore, he and spent time in India ā and difficult childhood. He would eventually move to New York to study at the Parsons School of Design, interning for Donna Karan and later working for Cynthia Rowley and Bill Blass. He started in 2009, and has dressed celebrities including Michelle Obama, Kate Middleton, Zoe SaldaƱa and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Gurung, 46, says processing his childhood experiences with an abusive father at home and bullies and predators at school in order to write and record the book was the hardest thing heās ever done.
āI really hadnāt told too many people, not even my close friends. To relive that part and to write it down ā¦ it was harrowing, I wonāt lie,ā Gurung told The Associated Press.
āIt really brought back so many memories and ā¦ itās less of an anger. Itās more like the injustice of the situation. More than anything else, I just wanted to go back to that kid and like, give him a hug ā¦ and just be like, āYouāre gonna be OK,āā Gurung said, choking back tears.
From Nepal to New York
Despite being teased and struggling academically, Gurung always thought he was destined for a bigger life: āI donāt know, I just had it in me. I think it was survival also a lot of times.ā
One bright light that kept him going was the unwavering love and support of his mother, Durga Rana. She's the hero of the book, encouraging him to follow his passions and find joy wherever possible, even though his interest in fashion and experimentation with makeup and feminine clothing was highly unconventional in Nepal at the time.
Surviving a marriage with an unfaithful, abusive husband, she essentially raised three young children on her own. Rana developed several successful businesses and eventually got into politics, telling her kids to use their platforms to make an impact.
āSheās a blueprint of my strength. Watching her carry the weight of the world with such elegance, you know, was really inspiring,ā Gurung said. āThe way she built the world around us, unbowed, unapologetic, was, I would say, my first lesson in resilience.ā
A deep love of women
The bookās title and cover are a purposeful nod to the designerās love of women. āWalk Like a Girlā was something kids said to tease him at school.
āI just didnāt understand it as an insult in the beginning because I think āGreat, Iām like my mother, my sister, all these women.ā āWonder Womanā was my favorite action hero, and āCharlieās Angels,āā Gurung said.
He decided to reclaim the phrase and chose his strength pose for the cover in honor of Rosie the Riveter and other āiconic, feminist women.ā
Cindi Leive, the former editor-in-chief of Glamour and Self magazines, championed Gurung early on because of his authenticity on and off the runway.
āIt became clear to me that he was incredibly interested not just in fashion as fashion, but in the women who would wear the clothes,ā Leive told the AP. āI also noticed that every time I would have a conversation with him, he would end up talking about his mom.ā
Gurung couldnāt wait to get to the U.S.; he felt immediately a place he sees as the best culmination of people, cultures and creative freedom, he writes. But he was surprised and disappointed by the general and at social events.
āMy recollection is he was one of the first to use models who more closely resembled the diversity of people that you actually see in America ā¦ in size, race and everything else,ā Leive said.
Gurungās runway casting was only part of his Now a Gurung uses his platform to and womenās rights issues, which, at the beginning of his career was not a popular stance, leaving him feeling ālike a lone ranger.ā He recalled the emails and messages he used to get saying, āOh, stay in your lane, you're a fashion designer ... not a politician.ā
āHe was very open about his support for issues that mattered to women, long before it was a thing. Eventually, I think, every designer had some, you know, slogan T-shirt proclaiming their support of womenās causes. He did it before anybody, but it went way deeper than the T-shirt,ā Leive said.
āIāll never forget when Cindi Leive at a dinner said to me ā right after George Floydās murder and all of that stuff that happened, the Black Lives Matter movement,ā Gurung said. āShe pulled me aside, she said, āHow does it feel now ā¦ to see the world catching up to you? Youāve been at it for such a long time.ā I didnāt even think about it.ā
Authenticity, on and off the runway
Part of Gurungās story is being a proud immigrant, and his connection to his Nepali roots come through in his designs. has been friends with Gurung since they were both starting out, bonding over He says Gurung is ānaturally curiousā and has always been a great storyteller.
āWhether heās doing a jewelry collection, whether itās a piece of clothing or a whole collection, itās always sort of backed by receipts of his experiences that are his tools of telling a story ā¦ whether about craft, whether itās about color, whether itās about his heritage, or simply people in his life, the designer said. āYou believe it because it comes from a very authentic place.ā
Mohapatra also admires Gurungās ānaturally rebellious streakā and his courage to speak out for causes he values.
āHeās brave to be the first one or join the force with people who are starting a movement,ā the designer said.
Mohapatra also suggests add to his work and his ability to empathize: āThere is an aspect of slowing down, really attention to the core and looking back at the path and ā¦ there is a bit more spirituality woven into the daily lives of people of Nepal.ā
Gurung says he hopes the book resonates with readers and encourages them to
āI want people to really understand that their existence, their story is worthy of being told, that they donāt have to hide themselves, theyāre no longer invisible,ā he said. āI know Iām on the cover, itās my name and my story, but it really is a story about, for, and of so many people.ā
Brooke Lefferts, The Associated Press
