The name of Prabal Gurung’s resort collection: Unconditional Love. Such was the title of artist Matthew Stone’s recent exhibition at the Hole gallery in New York, which informed the collection’s painterly prints. And such is the feeling that Gurung has for his customers, who are more than his inspirations—they’re like his top informants. “I’ve been traveling a lot doing trunk shows around the world, talking with my customers and getting their feedback,” Gurung said. “Resort is literally about redefining the codes that I know they like and making them better.”
It is also about thinking ahead to a New York flagship, which the designer would like to open one day. “She walks in, and it’s a one-stop shop,” he imagines. And thus the cadence of the collection, he explained at the preview, follows a day in her life—from school drop-off, which she does in a comfortable, exceptional knit and skirt, to work in a trusted pant/top pairing, and cocktails with friends in one of his many ultra flattering dresses. Should she need a black-tie option, she can have her pick between a column done in an Italian jacquard, a rich mix of mesh and metallic fabrications, and the dramatic red jaw-dropper that closed the show. As complicated and multilayered as some of these pieces may seem—there are a lot of moving parts; nothing, not even a sweatshirt, the sleeper hit of all of Gurung’s seasons, are what we call “basic” or “simple”—they work. They work hard. And as a result, said Gurung, “they make her life easier.”
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