Designer Prabal Gurung asked, 'Who gets to be American?' That question helped inspire two Met Gala themes.
- In 2019, the Nepali American designer launched a collection that he called "an ode to the American dream."
- The collection included sashes that posed the question, "Who gets to be American?"
In 2019, as a part of his Spring/Summer 2020 collection, designer Prabal Gurung had models walk down the runway wearing sashes that read "Who gets to be American?" He referred to the collection as "an ode to the true American dream."
In a personal essay, the designer calls himself a "global citizen," having lived in Singapore, Nepal, India, Australia, London and the US. Gurung currently holds American citizenship. The SS20 show was particularly special as it marked the collection's 10th anniversary, and Gurung's 20 year anniversary of moving to the US.
In the show notes, Gurung writes, "Though my roots lay with my family in Nepal, this country is my home. America is where my heart is."
He also tells a story of sitting in a business meeting, and being met with an accusing, "Well, you don't look American, so how can you define what America is?"
He continues, "As immigrants continue to birth this 'new America,' we must remember all versions of our history and take ownership of our past while forging a new legacy. Amidst the deep wounds that are severing the unity of our country, I continue to seek the America I came here to be a part of—the America that I know is still there."
Gurung ends his show notes by writing, "I want all immigrants to know that they are seen, that their voice matters, and that their existence matters."
Roses (the national flower of the US), denim, patchwork, and other typically American elements were all heavily featured in the collection.
In 2021, the Costume Institute and the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced two exhibition themes that would, in part, be answering the same question that Gurung posed in his SS20 show. The first, which launched in 2021, was "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion," with the same corresponding Met Gala theme. Visitors who entered the exhibition were immediately greeted by Gurung's infamous sash.
The second exhibition, launching in 2022, is "In America: An Anthology of Fashion." The Met Gala theme to kick-off the exhibition is "Gilded Glamour," celebrating the fashion of the age of industrialization in the US.
Both exhibitions came on the heels of the Black Lives Matter movement, which asked every industry—including the world of fashion—to grapple with questions of diversity and inclusion. Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute, told Vogue that "American fashion is undergoing a Renaissance." He continued by saying that young designers are "at the vanguard of discussions about diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability and transparency."
In an Instagram post from May 1st, Gurung wrote, "I have always wanted my work to start some critical conversation in culture in any small way possible.I am not always successful. But it is genuinely humbling to realize my work had any part in inspiring/influencing or just simply starting the conversation for these last two [Costume Institute] exhibitions."
Gurung grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, and studied fashion in New Delhi, India, where he worked under designers such as Manish Arora. In 1999, he moved to New York where he interned under Donna Karan. Ten years later, he released his own collection. Since then, the designer has dressed the likes of Michelle Obama and the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton. In 2021, he created gowns for Venus Williams, Teyana Taylor, Claire Danes, Gemma Chan, among others at the Met Gala.