NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Prabal Gurung’s pilgrimage to his homeland, Nepal, helped the New York-based designer create a personal collection for Fall/Winter 2023.

Debuting his new line at New York Fashion Week on Friday, Gurung said a trip home helped connect him to his roots.

“I wanted to go back home to Nepal simply because, you know, that’s where my spiritual connection and reconnection is,” Gurung told Reuters.

After attending a 10-day silent retreat on the suggestion of his mother, Gurung wanted to recreate the starlit nights he experienced there for his runway show.

“Even if I could give them 15, 20 minutes of that, what I felt, kind of escape. And they came here, they felt like they’re not in New York. And I wanted to create that space,” Gurung said .

The collection featured oversized shoulders, crop tops and lots of embellishments, in addition to Gurung’s signature juxtaposition of draping and tailoring.

Celebrities including Kimora Lee Simmons and her daughters, as well as singer Becky G and the designer’s friends who call themselves the “slaysians” were in attendance.

“Finding your people – it’s something that I’m always grateful for because it doesn’t happen to everyone all the time,” he said.

NYFW will end on Feb. 15 after over 70 designers present their collections.

Reporting by Alicia Powell in New York Editing by Diane Craft

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