Prabal Gurung F/W 2012

I've been far too absent as "Fashion Month" has come and gone, but pretending I'm studious has taken precedence. The casting of Prabal Gurung's show reflected his thematic interest in the journey from Hell to Heaven, with dark-haired girls in black opening the show and blondes in shimmering whites and golds closing the show. Nevermind what sort of implications that has for those of us that are not fair-haired. The darker section of the show included an eye-catching iridescent oil slick motif that I'd love to see in real life, as it looks a bit dense in photos. It may be one of those, "I like the idea, but the execution..." sort of things.



Gurung broke up the contrast with shots of blue, inspired by Japan's blue rose. The prints, which included cow skulls reminded me a bit of his fantastic Spring collection, which I regrettably left alone with the rest of the season's collections. That kind of recycling could be considered a bit redundant or conversely, focused, as Gurung hasn't exactly laid down a concrete DNA. Committing yourself to an aesthetic seems limiting to me, but that's another conversation. The strong colors and the intense, sometimes excessive details (print, ruffles, fur...) within different looks in the collection are really what I found compelling.



More than a few writers have suggested a bit of inspiration by way of Riccardo Tisci's work at Givenchy, which I don't think is totally baseless, but any sort of reference to organized religion (the Phillip Treacy hats in particular) might place any designer in danger of such a comparison. In any case, it seems that Gurung is certainly growing and finding his voice as a designer. I wouldn't usually expect something so tough from him, but it doesn't seem as if he's trying to be someone else. My hope is that he continues to explore, putting forth interesting collections that could be deemed beautiful on saints or sinners alike. Photos via style.com