I’ve gone this long believing that Prabal Gurung was British or Canadian, but he’s not – he’s a naturalized American of Nepalese descent. He’s a well-known and well-respected fashion designer who balances high fashion lines with mass-market lines too. He’s done collections for Target, and for Lane Bryant. He was actually one of the first major designers to do a collection for Lane Bryant, which (if you’re not familiar) is a plus-sized women’s clothing chain. Gurung points out in a new interview that he’s always offered plus-sized clothing in his own high-fashion line, and he talks about how his committment to dress women of every size has led to some… really awful comments.
Why he did the Lane Bryant collection: “I’ve been offering a size 22 since I started, but for some reason — [perhaps] because retailers weren’t buying it or something — it got lost in translation. What I realized was that the changes I wanted to see, in the industry and the world, just didn’t happen by me doing a show with a few plus size models or a diverse group of models; it needed to continue, and I felt like if lending my voice could move the conversation forward, I want to be part of it.”
How people treat his plus-sized collections: “We haven’t even done anything” in the high fashion community. The designer admitted that there was “a lot of snickering” when he first announced his collaboration, relaying the story of an acquaintance who approached him at an art opening to ask, “Why are you designing for fat people?” Gurung looks shocked by the question even now. “She saw my reaction and she said, ‘Oh no, I meant it as a joke!” I said to her, ‘Clearly, you know it’s not funny,'” he recalls. “I said to her, words are very powerful, they impact and affect lives. The majority of American women haven’t had a voice, haven’t felt like they belong in our world, and I wanted to be sure that they do. It’s people like you who make statements like these — there’s a reason I wanted to do this.”
Changing the industry: “Our industry is very, very slow at change, and fearful, we are operated by fear; there are a handful of people who operate with absolute courage and guts, but the majority of us, we don’t.”
I honestly believe that the snotty woman who said “Why are you designing for fat people?” was probably someone in the industry, because that’s how most fashion people think. Tim Gunn has talked about this a lot too – that designers refuse to see the plus-sized market as a huge untapped demographic hungry for stylish designs. It’s why Melissa McCarthy started her own line, and it’s why a handful of designers are slowly breaking into the market. Anyway, good for Gurung. He sounds like a really lovely guy.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
All the inspirational philosophy aside: um… money? I like lots and lots of fat people money?
This is the part I don’t get — given the demographic reality, why would any of these designers leave money on the table? It really ends up feeling like they believe that designing beautiful clothing for fat people would damage their image, because you know, overweight people are just that awful. Their attitude horrifies me.
Right?!? Sized 8 and up peoples’ money is worth and spends the same, right?
“‘Oh no, I meant it as a joke!” I said to her, ‘Clearly, you know it’s not funny,’”
I doubt that woman was joking, but his response was clean n clear. Good job.
That black n white dress is lovely. I would have went with a different shoe, but still…
Oh man I can’t for the life of me remember where this article came from BUT it went into detail about how the demographic for plus size is your low – average income earner who can’t afford designer clothing and this is why Chanel, Prada and the likes don’t even bother trying to tap into that market. Women who buy luxury brands were between size 0-4 predominantly.
Well, why would women larger than size 4 buy from them? I’d like to see the study they did to get those demographics.
Well, people who do afford chanel and prads usually are rich, have extensive resources to afford best food, fitness ans healthcare and ( occasional nip and tuck) to maintain a look that is tbe generic beauty standard. So I sort of understand it.
But I doubt all plus sized women are low income group or only low income groups have plus sized women.
In general, an average middle class person have much less money and much more important things to spend over than spending some ridiculous 2000 dollar for a plain white channel shirt.
That study sounds awfully biased. If the option of clothing in a size above 4 isn’t there, of course none of those women are purchasing it. I really question the methods if it was even scientific research precisely because there is a built in barrier. A better analysis wpuld be to look at purchasing patterns in a designer line offering all the options, but even that has the inherent social attitudes attached to larger women trying to dress nicely.
You know you’re also using flawed logic yourself? It assumes that women who can afford luxury items can do so because someone else is supporting them. What about the women who are themselves earning the money and simply don’t have the same time to exercise or take advantage of these options? And do they never have children, or go through menopause?
I’m at the upper end of “regular” sizes, a 12 usually…but can wear 10 or 14, 16 or + depending on the cut. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wandered stores with serious money in my pocket (well serious, for me: $500-$800+) searching for an outfit for work or for a special event. And 9.9 times out of 10, I could find nothing – *NOTHING*in my size that was beautiful that I wanted to wear. So many times I would get disheartened, feeling like my only option was to shop for clothes that would merely cover my nakedness in boxy matronly separates, instead of something that helped me feel beautiful and feminine and comfortable.
Lately I find I’ve been picking and choosing things online to pull together fabulous outfits…sometimes buying things that don’t quite fit, or that are made OK but are, frankly, butt ugly…and taking them to a seamstress to have them made into something that is somewhat acceptable. There is ABSOLUTELY a market for clothes made for women of a certain size that are well made, made with beautiful fabrics, feminine details and not the styling of a tent: little things: v-necks or princess necklines, tiny tucks or decorative details in the waist that give a little definition, a variety of hip/waist/bust ratios so that someone who has an ample bust doesn’t have to default to looking pregnant, and someone who has a smaller chest doesn’t have to hold their breath to fit their waist into a dress, sleeves that are well proportioned, not 6″ around but also not so flouncy that they could fit an entire kindergarten in them.
I think many designers don’t bother because they want to target the size 00, or 0, or 2 20 something. It’s easier for them and fits with their target “image”
There’s a local dress shop that focuses on event dresses and wedding dresses, and they won’t even entertain anyone who is size 10 (8?), or over, even to special order something, because they only want to deal in “sample sizes”. To which I say “good luck with that”. There are many, many women who would spend good money, repeatedly, for clothes in 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and higher sizes, if it were well made, stylish, and fun. Those narrow minded idiots are just leaving money on the table. (Seriously – if I ran a dress shop and a bride who wore a size 22, 24 etc wanted to spend $3000 on a dress from my shop? You better believe I’d make sure I had something to offer her, or would work with her to find something, and figure out which designers offer something in that range, because she wouldn’t be the first and certainly wouldn’t be the last.
Money is money and my MBA tells me that at the end of the day, $2-3000 in my business’ pocket beats superficial snobbery every time.
E Sh@kti is a beautiful place to get all you mentioned using your true measurements. I love this site and I’d encourage women of all sizes to get custom measured to your body clothing. It’s bespoke and gads cheaper than couture.
You’d think designers were making art, and that what puts them apart from common manufacturers is the tiny size of their “creations”.
Idiocy. Especially if you consider how many designers struggle financially.
I love his designs, but don’t know much about him, so this is very nice to read!
Honking because I love everything he said. I read an interview once where the designer (I wish I remembered who it was) claimed they didn’t make plus-sizes because women who need them wouldn’t buy high fashion/expensive clothing in the hope that they’ll lose weight and are always waiting to buy until they get to a smaller size. I was insulted as a woman who has been everything from a 12-20. It’s been much harder to dress well on my upper end.
I don’t know him (or fashion) but Congrats to Him!
I love his designs. I think the only time I have seen Amy Schumer looked great on the rc was when she was wearing a Prabal Gurung gown.
I, too, generally really favor his designs as I see them id’d here.
To me this is an example of the exclusionary beliefs and actions of a petty club who wants to be superior to everyone else. Why design for (include) the peasants? Let’s elevate ourselves by insulting and excluding everyone else. *sigh* Good for him for resisting.
I love him for this.
Me too! I have never heard of him before ( because I’m not that in to fashion but I really like him now!
I love his slap-down of that awful person who thought she was being “funny.” Another commenter above mentioned his motivation being money – ABSOLUTELY, he is a businessman, but he is clearly also motivated by a desire to design clothes that fit a range of sizes more reflective of our actual society instead of a movie/magazine fantasy. The two are NOT mutually exclusive.
He does beautiful clothes. I have had him on my radar for a while.
Michell Obama wears his dresses well and Meghn Markle also wears some of his stuff on the Suits set.