At Prabal Gurung, a Return to Glamo

Linda Fargo, the fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman, was coming out of the backstage area of Prabal Gurung’s show just as I was going in. I think both of us were a little surprised at the shift seen on Mr. Gurung’s runway, from his clean and bright sportswear last season to full-on evening glamour for fall, with louche-ly draped dresses in vampy red and pink, feathers from top to bottom on some looks, lace prints that seemed to disintegrate on others and stockings with a pattern that suggested corset ribbons.
“He went back to where he was before he jumped on the bandwagon of clean American sportswear,” Ms. Fargo said.
Backstage Mr. Gurung said: “No one needs another cashmere sweater. What people are looking from me is something that is special.”
The starting point for this collection was Miss Havisham from “Great Expectations,” a character Mr. Gurung related to because “she was rich, heartbroken and crazy.” A lot of the fabrics he used were washed until they began to break down, a light reference to the shut-in who wore an old wedding dress. In Mr. Gurung’s version, however, the dress was crimson, in washed silk faille with the bustier exposed, and worn by Karlie Kloss.