Top 58 Quotes & Sayings by Prabal Gurung

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Nepalese designer Prabal Gurung.
Last updated on April 14, 2025.
Prabal Gurung

Prabal Gurung is a Nepalese-American fashion designer based in New York City.

There is undoubtedly a lot of pressure that comes with recognition, which can be a good thing and bad thing all at the same time. But if you stay focused and don't lose sight of what you're doing and who you are, you can rise above it.
My goal is: I'm not trying to be snobby, but my clothes are not for everyone, not for every Hollywood celebrity. There is a designer for everyone, and a celebrity for every designer.
Fashion has always had the ability to affect lives, to touch people. But for the longest period of time, we've said, 'Oh, we're just pages of a magazine; that's what we all look at.' It's more than that.
I'm fascinated by furniture design and interiors, and I want to try designing all that stuff. — © Prabal Gurung
I'm fascinated by furniture design and interiors, and I want to try designing all that stuff.
As someone who started a company with an idea of creating a luxury brand with a soul, I needed to learn more about how I effect change.
I decided if it was going to be a mistake to come to New York and try and make a career in fashion, then it was going to be my mistake... But the American dream is real. I'm living it.
There is one universal truth: All women, all over the world, want to look beautiful. That is always the theme of my designs.
I am not the kind of designer who is racing to the finish line, so while collaborations are important for our growth, each and every one has to be strategic and well-timed with what we have going on internally.
People on the outside and even some people in the fashion industry think that fashion people are maybe not the smartest. It's a constant battle.
I would tell any aspiring designer to take the time to experience everything they can to really get a feel for what direction they want to go in. And most importantly, let your passion and your gut lead you.
To me, beauty is inclusion - every size, every color - that's the world I live in.
I was in Nepal and I had watched Oprah Winfrey's show. I had no idea, as a kid in Nepal, who she was, but I remember watching an episode of hers about living your dreams.
I came from Bill Blass, where it was a well-oiled machine and if I said I needed a fabric, it was done. Now, I have to budget everything. I have to take on the role not just as a designer but a business. But I'm a glass half-full kind of guy.
I came here because I wanted to live the American dream that I had heard of. And I'm a perfect example. I came to New York; I knew no one. I've made a career, a life, so I still believe in that.
I know what it's like to turn the page of a magazine and not see anyone like you. It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of talking to yourself to confirm your self-worth. — © Prabal Gurung
I know what it's like to turn the page of a magazine and not see anyone like you. It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of talking to yourself to confirm your self-worth.
I grew up with a single mother who brought us up. I always look back at my career, and everything that has happened to me is because of the support of women. My mother, my sister, Michelle Obama, Kate Middleton - all these women have believed in my designs and worn them and given me a platform to increase my visibility.
I'm constantly thinking about design, shapes, patterns and colors, so I just want to be more of a blank canvas. But there is a comfort in knowing what you're going to wear, and that probably comes from Catholic school, where I wore a uniform for 10 years.
Girls who wear certain kind of dresses, who show certain areas of the body, are not going to like my clothes. You can't please everyone.
All designers have a platform, an audience. Whether it's one or a million, it doesn't matter.
The woman I design for is very curious. She loves fashion, but she also is passionate about what is happening around the world.
The punk era, at its best, celebrated questioning the norm and the promotion of originality. Both concepts have always resonated with me.
I really feel blessed that I'm able to do what I love and make a living at it and have people come and see it. I mean, what an incredibly blessed life!
I'm not a believer of luck. I think opportunity and hard work becomes luck.
I think I'm just really in love with women, and I love to see them looking incredibly, truly beautiful. I think every time a woman wears one of my dresses, you know, in a matter of speaking, I'm having a little love affair with her!
I make 98% of my collection in New York City and am generating jobs, so fashion isn't just frivolous for me. I understand levity about it. I also understand the depth of it.
I mean, I can cook, but I'd get very nervous having my food being judged by dinner guests.
I was definitely considered different growing up. I learned that being me was all right because my family celebrated those differences.
You want to question what is important and why is it important. I don't have all the answers, but I'm very curious to know and learn.
I've always found it interesting when I look at a woman, and she's beautiful and everything, but there's an inner strength.
I've always been interested in a femininity with a bite. I always think a little bit of a kick is great.
A lot of people have an opinion. If you listen to them too much, your work will get influenced, and you make no one happy.
It saddens me to see the reality-television shows that are getting so much fanfare that are a celebration of stupidity and the degradation of women. And those women are consistently wearing too short, too tight dresses. I hope the trend of aging gracefully returns.
There's such a feeling of satisfaction when something you imagined turned into something real.
Change doesn't come from staying in your safe space.
For my first big Fashion Week event, the factory wouldn't give me my clothes because I didn't have the $25,000 it cost to make them.
I love draping; it's less about proportion than fit and the fabric. It's very specialized and I think when women see the construction, they respond to it immediately.
The first time I saw my look on a real person was in Paris, and I felt a little shock, a little thrill that went through my body. And that thrill never goes away - never.
Nothing scares a straight man more than a woman in her full glory. — © Prabal Gurung
Nothing scares a straight man more than a woman in her full glory.
I tweet myself and do all the Facebook updates. It started off with me wondering whether I was showing off and I was very careful about what I wrote.
I just really enjoy life.
I went home and went to Mustang, in the mountains between Nepal and China, and was so inspired by the landscape and the rich culture and heritage. I loved the textures, the draping, the palette. Everything was so beautiful. This little kingdom wasn't open to the world until 1991.
When I came to America, there were two kinds of women: women who looked serious and who didn't wear color and print, and women who looked girly and feminine and like second wives.
The sources of inspiration from my travels have been unending.
I have a 6-year-old niece who doesn't look like the majority of girls on the covers of magazines. I hope that by the time she's 16, the world will have changed.
Fashion has a huge responsibility - in what we show on the runway, what we do in editorial, who we dress - to make sure it represents differences. If we don't, we're giving in to the discrimination.
Because you have very limited time and you have to be very judicious and wise about how you spend it. But otherwise, I've always been - ever since I was a kid, I've always been coming up with ideas. So I'm able to come up with crazy ideas twice for two collections! It's fun.
I want to make clothes that make women feel beautiful.
A modern Woman is not necessarily...s omeone who just buys expensive stuff... ...a modern Woman is someone who buys intelligently.
Always aspire to become the next you, not someone else — © Prabal Gurung
Always aspire to become the next you, not someone else
When you get into fashion, when you're not yet working in fashion, you have this idea about what the fashion world is: that it's very glamorous, it's the red carpet, it's very editorial. But really, what you don't understand until you get into it, is what goes on the rest of the time, which is just hard work. Besides passion and dedication, it's the grit. How long are you willing to be in it to become successful?
I came from Bill Blass, where it was a well-oiled machine and if I said I needed a fabric, it was done. Now, I have to budget everything. I have to take on the role not just as a designer but a business. But Im a glass half-full kind of guy.
I wanted to do something not just commercial but also covetable.
A beautiful woman is a beautiful woman, but a beautiful woman with a brain is an absolutely lethal combination.
Nails are the period at the end of the sentence. They complete the look
I just think the idea of moving away from the body and discovering sensuality by skimming the body, not tightening the body, seems rather new to me. Especially in this world where we're living right now, where the idea of giving freedom to women, especially in politics what's happening, it seemed so appealing to me, so that was the starting point.
Deepika is one of my absolute favourite Bollywood actors. It is wonderful to have someone of her stature wearing my brand
I love a red lip - it's such a powerful statement. It exudes confidence and makes for a bold look.
I truly believe that a beautiful woman is a beautiful woman, but a beautiful woman with a brain is an absolutely lethal combination. Women of integrity, depth, sensuality and strength have always been my source of inspiration, the reason for what I do and how I got to where I am today. They are all my muse. If my quest, in what I do - to make women look and feel beautiful - reflects even a tiny fraction of my deep-rooted respect for them, and succeeds in celebrating these lives of strength and substance, then I will consider it a job well done.
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