Prabal Gurung

For eveningwear and red-carpet-leaning looks, this is a label that punches above its visibility. Gurung's eponymous line has become known specifically for its gowns and dresses, so a special occasion is exactly where it shines. If you want something dramatic with real designer pedigree, it's a strong choice.

Because the people who wear it set the tone for red carpets. His fans include former First Lady Michelle Obama, the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, Oprah Winfrey, and actresses Sarah Jessica Parker, Anne Hathaway, and Demi Moore. That roster speaks to the kind of polished, occasion-ready design the label is built around.

Prabal Gurung is a Nepalese American fashion designer based in New York City, born in 1974 in Singapore to Nepali parents and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. He launched his own eponymous label in 2009, and as of December 2024 serves as vice chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. His memoir, Walk Like a Girl, was released in May 2025.

He launched PRABAL GURUNG in February 2009 during New York Fashion Week. The label made an immediate impression and has been a New York fixture ever since. That debut is the foundation of everything the house is known for today.

It's deep and international. After studying in New Delhi at the National Institute of Fashion Technology and apprenticing in India, he moved to New York in 1999 and completed his studies at Parsons School of Design. He interned with Donna Karan, spent two years at Cynthia Rowley, and was design director at Bill Blass for five years before going out on his own.

His collections are known for drawing on a wide range of cultural references that shift from season to season. Past inspirations have included his favourite designer, Yves Saint Laurent, the erotic photographs of Nobuyoshi Araki, and the character Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. That literary and artistic range is part of why no two of his collections feel the same.

Gowns are his calling card, but his work reaches further. He has created collections and projects with mass and beauty partners including Target in 2013, MAC Cosmetics in 2014, and Lane Bryant in 2017, and even designed new uniforms for Sephora's North American beauty advisers in 2011. He has also been creative director for the Japanese jewelry house Tasaki since 2017.

Quite a lot, and it's central to who he is. He founded the Shikshya Foundation in Nepal in 2012 to benefit underprivileged children, and created a relief fund after the April 2015 Nepal earthquake that raised almost a million in funds. He has also supported Planned Parenthood and the ACLU and joined the Stop Asian Hate campaign. Buying into the label means buying into a designer with a strong public conscience.