Born in Singapore, raised in Nepal, based in New York, the fashion designer Prabal Gurung, who counts Demi Moore and Oprah Winfrey among his clients, talks about his life in fashion. My earliest memories are of rifling through my mother's things. I remember being fascinated with her Dior lipstick, her Cartier sunglasses. I didn't quite realise the impact big brands had when I was little. I knew they existed, but I guess you could say they were sort of beyond reach.
That changed when I started travelling. I remember walking through the streets of London when I was very young. It was night time and I turned a corner - I can't remember the name of the street - and I came upon this beautiful dress in the window of a Chanel store, pure white. I shall never forget the feeling I had, looking into that store. It made me want to create beautiful clothes just like that.
I've always been obsessed with Bollywood, even back in the day when I think it was unfashionable to say that you liked Bollywood, because it was so over the top. I think that sometimes you need to be over the top, you need to be flamboyant, you need that energy. When I was about 13 or 14 I started watching Audrey Hepburn films and I was introduced to Givenchy, and I fell in love. I was absolutely mesmerised.
My family is small - just my sister, who's the eldest, my brother, my parents and me. We were never what you would call trendy. My mother always believed in buying a few good pieces and making them work. She would always wear well-made saris, for example. They were never those in-your-face, heavily embroidered kind with the flashy gold border that is so popular in that part of the world. My father was very old-school in his outlook on fashion. He always said your mind and your intelligence are absolutely important, but looking good helps you get to where you want to be - it gives you an edge. I never forgot that.
I grew up in a part of the world known for its beautiful fabrics, and I was exposed to them at a young age. All those traditional Nepalese saris in beautiful georgette, chiffon, silk. At the time I did not notice the impact they had on me, but when I moved to New York I realised how blessed I was to have had access to all of this. Growing up was all about fitting in. I went to an all-boys' Catholic school, where I was constantly reminded that I was different. In India and in Nepal at the time, fashion designing was not something that you took seriously. Nevertheless, the backs of all of my school books were filled with pages and pages of sketches, all of beautiful clothes on beautiful girls.
In some way, I've always known that I would design clothes. Even though what I wanted to do was considered different, I never once thought it unusual for me to have the kind of dreams that I had. My parents, too, were so nurturing, so supporting; the one thing they always told me was that the only thing that mattered was that I should do what made me happy. Given the time and the environment we lived in, they were certainly quite evolved in their outlook. I am a product of absolute support from my family. When I told them I wanted to be a fashion designer, they weren't in the least bit surprised. They told me that they had been waiting for me to say it for years.
Not everyone was so encouraging. When I was leaving for New York to work and study, people told my parents and me that fashion was all very well as a hobby, but what was I really going to do? That made me so angry. Hopefully now when someone in that part of the world wants to do what I do, people will be a bit more understanding and know that it's possible to be successful at this. Fashion gets a bad reputation for being frivolous, and yes, it is just clothes, but it's more than that. It's a multibillion-dollar business, a livelihood to many and a legitimate industry. I know that I'm not changing lives with what I do, but I make people feel better about themselves. There's nothing frivolous about that.
I've only had two collections out, but people have been so welcoming and so kind. In our part of the world, we believe that what goes around comes around. I definitely think that I keep this in mind with everything that I do. I've been working for years, and I feel I've paid my dues. I have been patient and I always knew that one day this was going to come to me. The love that I have for what I do is absolutely pure. I also believe that if you do something with integrity, people see it.
I go home to Nepal once a year in March after the autumn/winter shows, and that grounds me. In this industry it is easy to lose perspective and once I'm back in Nepal I see how lucky I really am. The things I complain about while in New York don't seem as important any more. The way I see it, I'm blessed to be able to do what I do. Prabal Gurung will be stocked at Bloomgindale's, Dubai Mall, when it opens next month.
