Prabal Gurung “a spiritual awakening through the lens of impermanence and metamorphosis.” #NYFW

Prabal Gurung’s journeys, both physical and metaphysical, always impact his work very specifically. Over the years that has led to a range of runway outcomes, from beautiful to perplexing.

During a recent 10-day silent-meditation experience, an encounter with a painted-lady butterfly “gave me something new to ponder upon,” Gurung wrote in his program notes. Certainly, fashion is about change, endlessly and always. This season’s change proved positive for Gurung after he faltered last spring. He called his fall process “a spiritual awakening through the lens of impermanence and metamorphosis.” At risk of irreverence, it felt like a commercial awakening as well – a jolt back to the realization that his customer likes her sartorial introspection with a major dose of glamour.

Gurung delivered plenty. Big, graphic patterns derived from butterfly wings ran throughout as he crossed elements of East and West, turning them into a treatise on power-women allure. Often, he played hard against soft – cropped jackets over sharp trousers, the precision of line broken by long, billowing sashes in those high-impact prints. The patterns repeated in sexy dresses, either side-draped or cutaway high-to-low. Gurung also showed strong-shouldered pantsuits, some in high-shine fabrics; dramatic long coats, and lovely, fluid evening wear including a pink satin blouse over green knot-front skirt that nodded towards Yves Saint Laurent.

Bold color dominated – red, turquoise, oranges, hot pink – often worn in combinations or against black and white. Gurung works best in bold strokes, and here those strokes came together with confidence. This was a strong collection for the kind of woman who wants to command the room.