Designer Profile | Prabal Gurang

Prabal Gurang has dressed the likes of Michelle Obama at a White House Correspondents’ dinner at Washington’s Hilton Hotel, Kristen Stewart at the South Korea premiere of Eclipse, and Heidi Mount at the CFDA awards. With a CV like this, it’s essential we add Gurang to our list of celebrated designers.

Gurang first appeared at New York fashion week in February of last year, following his first runway show in a tent at Bryant Park. The Singapore-born designer has built up a worldly design knowledge after several years of travel and working for numerous stylists and design houses. He interned at Donna Karen while winning Best Designer at the Parsons Design awards, and went on to spend two years at Cynthia Rowley’s. His successful career led him on to gain the seat as the design director at Bill Blaiss for five years, which stirred the talented designer to start his own namesake design house, to the joy of many women’s wardrobes around the world.
Gurang has been celebrated for his precise lines, earning him a Fashion Fund Award and a nomination at the 2010 CDFA Swarovski Womenswear Awards. The designers latest collection takes visually beautiful yet also wearable designs to another level, utilising a monochrome and gold palette to create a host of clear-cut dresses.

The inspiration for the collection draws from the little beauties in life, such as his mum’s YSL Rive Gauche perfume back in the 1970s. Sometimes designers inspiration is hard to see in an outfit, but Gurang sets the mood of the collection clearly, translating the stripes of the perfume packaging onto the pattern on his outfits.

The Singaporean also pulls stimulation from the way in which New York women dress themselves, which is probably why his designs can translate so well into every women’s wardrobe. He attends social gatherings uptown and downtown to get a feel for what a woman really wants in an outfit, what more could we ask for in a womenswear designer? -Isabella Stockwell

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Interview with Jodi Arnold, designer of MINT Jodi Arnold

Jodi Arnold is the hip, modern and glam designer behind Mint Jodi Arnold. The contemporary line that has stolen the hearts of cosmopolitan women everywhere, who want au courant clothing. We had to get Jodi's insider dish on her take on the fashion world to what label she admires. View the entire Mint jodi Arnold collection here.

HM: What are your three favorite fibers or textiles to work with?

JA: I love all natural fibers. I enjoy silks like charmeuse, crepe de chine, and georgette silk the most for their drapeability. We use these a lot in the collection because they always give ease to any silhouette. I also enjoy cotton for its breathability and the possibility to create unique folds and darts that add interest. For coats and jackets I enjoy working in heavy wools. I aim at creating a jacket that is 3 dimensional and looks sharp on a hanger.

HM: What is your fashion philosophy
JA: For me, fashion is not art; it’s a fine line between art and commerce. It doesn’t make sense to me to create clothing that no one can wear. The joy is in creating something that is beautiful and art inspired yet wearable for many kinds of people.

HM: What are some of the first things you think of when you start to create a design?

JA: First and foremost, I always try to think of how I would feel wearing it. Would I feel frumpy? Would I feel like that it’s too young? Does it have something new and unique about it? Would I feel confident in this? Once I decide on a general silhouette, I see what I can do to make it new and interesting--a new pleat, a new drape, a new embellishment.

HM: Do you believe that any woman of any size can look sexy and glamorous?

JA: Of course! I love to see women of all sizes feeling confident. Feeling sexy and glamorous is about much more than the clothes you wear. It has everything to do with how you feel about yourself.

HM: Do you have a favorite piece from your own collections?
JA: I do; I love the Pia Dress from the Jodi Arnold Fall Collection. It’s easy to wear and I love the unique, hand crafted detail on the front.

HM: What fashion designer or label do you admire?

JA: I’m a fan of Dries Van Noten for its wearability and details, and I really admire Marc Jacobs for always pushing things forward.

HM: What is glamorous to you?

JA: For me, glamorous is feeling healthy and confident in my own skin.

HM: Speaking of your fashion designs, are you working on or thinking of anything new and innovative for the future?

JA: We are very excited about a new laptop bag we created for Intel that will be advertised in the December issue of Lucky Magazine. It was interesting to work on something that was a little out of our "comfort zone,” but as soon as we saw the need for a fashionable laptop bag we had a lot of fun with it.

HM: Do you personally have any favorite types of designs that you love to wear?

JA: Coming into Fall, I love wearing a nicely cut pair of trousers. After a Summer of wearing dresses and skinny jeans, trousers with a nice leg seem so new and sophisticated. I especially love them when worn with a long, chunky, oversized cardigan and a pair of lace up shoes with a slight heel.

HM: What do you hate seeing on a woman's body?

JA: I guess it depends on the woman’s body, but I don’t feel like I’m the one to decide. I like seeing a woman what makes her feel good.

HM: Do you have a favorite fashion icon?

JA: I can’t say that I have one particular fashion icon, however, I do love Carine Roitfeld’s look and the fact that she is ALWAYS in fierce heels.

HM: What is your favorite type of dress to create?

JA: Because the entire brand is art-inspired, I am always looking to put a unique twist on a traditional dress. Dresses are a fantastic way to feel comfortable, sexy, and versatile at the same time. I like to give a woman options with her dress- the ability to wear with or without a belt; with heels, flats, or boots; or from daytime to nighttime. And our dresses are, of course, always designed to flatter a woman’s body.

Required Reading: Valentino: Themes and Variations

The legacy of Valentino continues on. The new book, Valentino: Themes and Variations (Rizzoli) by Pamela Golbin with commentary from Valentino himself chronicles the history of the house as well as an in depth look of the inspirations behind the designs. The new book is a collector's item and a keepsake for every devoted fan of Valentino and the fashion industry. Find out more about the book here.
Valentino aka,Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, became interested in fashion while in middle school in his native Voghera, Lombardy, Italy, when he apprenticed under his uncle Rosa and local designer Ernestina Salvadeo, an aunt of noted artist Aldo Giorgini).

At 17 Valentino moved to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of his mother Teresa de Biaggi and his father Mauro Garavani. There he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.Valentino's international debut took place in 1962 in Florence, the Italian fashion capital of the time. His first show at the Pitti Palace was welcomed as a true revelation and the young couturier was submerged by orders from foreign buyers and enthusiastic comments on the press.

After the breakthrough show in Florence, Valentino started to dress the ladies of the international best-dressed crowd such as his acquaintance from the Paris years Countess Jacqueline de Ribes and New York socialites Babe Paley and Jayne Wrightsman.

In 1966, confident of his client base, he moved his shows from Florence to Rome and there, two years later, he had one of his greatest triumphs, an all-white collection, which became famous for the "V" logo he designed. Valentino's style can be seen as much more conservative and fixed. His concept of elegance and allure is basically an exercise in glamour for the sake of glamour itself. He will truly be missed. -Phillip R