The Stories: “The first dress that I ever draped was the dress that got on the cover of Women's Wear Daily, for my first collection. That was life changing. It was a dress that Zoe Saldaña wore. It was also the version of a dress that I made for Oprah for her magazine cover. The dress that Michelle Obama wore to a White House Correspondents' Dinner changed my trajectory.” The Backstory: “It was at Bill Blass that I did my Phd; my Masters." "I grew up in a household where we could talk about fashion, love, music, dance—everything---at the dinner table. Nothing was off limits. And when I came to America, especially in the fashion world, when I would ask questions, people would say, ‘No, I don’t want to talk about that.’ I was shocked.” “You have to figure out what is happening around you, and survive it. In order for me to survive and really live my dreams, I had to be my own cheerleader. I allowed myself to feel things, but then also to move on.” Wisdom Rains: “'Too much' and 'too little' are words that have been hurled at me ever since I was little and I've learned to brush it off." I learned that you can't please everyone, all of the time." "If you’re living your life as part of a marginalized group, you’re in constant fight-or-flight mode and you don’t even realize it. Then that gets amplified with what’s happening politically, culturally.” “In watching my mother I realized that elegance isn’t a posture; it’s a practice.” “Early on, I learned that I was never going to get any validation, I was seen as a ‘cautionary tale’; and what that did was, it freed me from ever needing any.” “I think it’s very important for all of us to live in the world exploring what we want to do in life, and having that encompass joy, purpose, and impact.” On Inspo: “My mother is my blueprint for strength.” On Writing His Memoir: “Editing down was really challenging. I made sure that it was done with grace. This is not a salacious, take-down book. That's not my being. I wanted to tell a story. While writing, it was really challenging to relive things. But it was also cathartic.." On The Fashion Industry: "What I love about the fashion industry, which often doesn't get shared, is the camaraderie that we have. There's a genuine sense of support and understanding amongst all the creatives and entrepreneurs. It's not easy. It might look fabulous and wonderful, but the hard work is real hard work. I always say five percent of it is glamour, the rest is sheer hard work.” On Anna Wintour: "I know she can be polarizing, but the industry is better because of her." On Cynthia Rowley: “She had an independent brand and she worked really hard. What I really loved about her, and I'm inspired by her constantly, is that even in the hardest times she was always joyful. She was always like optimistic.” What Else: “Towards that time, we started the foundation and that’s where I would say everything shifted for me. We started with twelve girls, and we’ve gone to more than three hundred children. These are street worker’s children; inmates’ children; these are children who have no access to education and a livelihood." Obsixed: a collection of Prabal’s current lifestyle obsessions.

a note from the host

I first met Prabal Gurung around at the launch of his collection, around 2009, when I was an editor at Oprah's magazine. I've always been struck by the almost intangible unfettered, out-of-the-box approach he has to design. There's a freedom in his designs. There's an eclectic-ness that I love. He's written an extraordinary book, a memoir that details his life and includes a lot of difficulties he had as a young child. He told me that it’s served to create his sense of not needing validation in life. He grew up feeling as if he was, what he calls, ‘a cautionary tale’---at the time in his homeland of Nepal. He never felt validated, and so he went out into the world not seeking validation, and with a freedom to do his own thing. Well that ‘own thing’ is, today, a much-coveted thing in the form of his tremendously beautiful clothes; a collection filled with dichotomies and a celebration of style and substance, as he describes it. Prabal talks about creating to match women’s power. It’s the New Americana, and it’s better in color. This very special conversation includes everything from a deep dive into the pages of his book to a candid recounting of his life’s story, his thoughts on the fashion industry (the conscience and the soul of the global fashion industry, in his opinion) and his thoughts on and the impact of people like Anna Wintour, Bill Blass, Kamala Harris, Cynthia Rowley, Oprah Winfrey and Gloria Steinem. We talk about his lifestyle, his daily meditation practice, his home as a private sanctuary. Then there are the stories about his early days in New York, landing in America from India and before that, Nepal. We discuss his mother as a blueprint for his strength, when giving back took a front seat in his life, what he's proud of, and his many achievements. Prabal Gurung is an exemplary human and an extraordinary talent, and the world is a better, more colorful place because of him.

                                  + tamara rappa