How Prabal Gurung made beauty a ‘main character’ of his NYFW show

As such, the brand has become an Ulta favorite in the prestige skin-care category. According to Yoon, though Peach & Lily only has about 30 SKUs, it has become the fourth largest in the category, based on sales, since expanding into the beauty retailer in April 2019. As previously reported by Glossy, In November 2023, the company reached $100 million in sales.

With his brand’s new beauty partnership, which is set to last for two seasons, Gurung said beauty will become more of a main character in his collection’s storytelling. More specifically, linking to both Gurung’s and Yoon’s Asian heritage, this season’s glass skin look was meant to honor the deep-rooted cultural history of glass skin and how it has transcended to become a mainstream beauty look. The “glass skin” look — best defined as skin so dewy, smooth and clear, it resembles glass — originated in South Korea.

“Beauty was a huge part of the [runway] looks,” said Gurung, who was named CFDA co-chair in December 2022. “I thought of what I wanted to visually communicate with our runway and also about our customer and how she goes through her day. She is comfortable with herself, confident and empowered. And she tends to take a more natural approach to her beauty look, especially since our clothes are often full of color. We wanted to represent this sense of ease on the runway.”

To achieve the glow-from-within look on the models, no foundation or other complexion products were used. The products at the center of the look were Peach & Lily’s Glass Skin Refining Serum, Lazy Day All-In-One Moisture Pads and the Wild Dew Treatment Essence.

Gurung’s decision to move away from full glam makeup looks to highlight everyday “glass” skin reflects a larger trend in beauty. On TikTok, the #nomakeupchallenge has over 276,000 posts, while the hashtag #nomakeup has 1.7 million posts. According to Google Trends, at the start of NYFW, on September 6, searches for no makeup increased 100%.

Glowy no makeup, makeup has been slowly creeping onto the runway. Last season, Starface, Gen Z’s go-to for pimple patches, partnered with Luar for a no makeup, makeup look to tease its newest pimple patches. Before that, in September 2023, Area made headlines for choosing to not feature foundation or nail polish on its models. And on Friday, for Alaïa’s runway show at the Guggenheim, Pat McGrath returned to NYFW to create what she called “nude” makeup looks, using very light and neutral makeup.

In addition to the celebration of glass skin, Gurung’s Nepali heritage played a major role in the inspiration behind the clothes. “Our collection is inspired by Holi, which is a Nepali holiday that celebrates joy and love — there is such a fresh exuberance to the festival that we wanted to bring to the runway,” Gurung told Glossy. “It is about feeling free and connected to oneself, and glowing, confident skin helps exude that.”

Bright colors, flowy looks and sparkly textured embellishments on garments were prominent fixtures on the runway. Gurung closed the show with a festive performance that included the traditional Holi practice of throwing colorful powders, referred to as gulal, into the air.

In conversation with founder and creative director Jane Wade

Since launching her eponymous women’s ready-to-wear brand in January 2022, Jane Wade hasn’t taken her foot off the gas.

In July 2023, the emerging designer and creative director landed a two-season partnership with luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman. And in May, Wade was announced as one of 10 2024 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists, along with Jackson Wiederhoeft of Wiederhoeft, Sebastien and Marianne Amisial of Sebastien Ami and Taylor Thompson of 5000, among others. With the support, Wade — whose background includes work with bridal designer Danielle Frankel, jewelry brand Martine Ali and Alexander Wang — is striving to cement her reputation as a prominent voice in fashion.

Ahead of her third runway show on Wednesday, the Brooklyn-based designer sat down with Glossy to discuss her upcoming collection, what she prioritizes when producing a show and as a smaller brand, how she sees a return on investment from NYFW.

Where did you pull inspiration for this season’s collection and upcoming runway show?

“For this collection, [the focus was] on corporate greed and how, in corporate America, we have so many avenues and angles to cut financial corners, whether it’s profit shifting or tax havens. They could be legal or they could be illegal, but it creates this very large wealth inequality across America. This collection is studying that through, for instance, shredded paper as one of our techniques and textures. It’s a cheeky salute to hiding the evidence, and one of the pieces in the collection is made of my shredded Chase documents. We’ve painted on them and texturized them. It’s been fun finding cool, unique ways to layer the narrative and the theme and do the storytelling without being so explicit. As a creative and a designer, that’s the way I’m working when it comes to building a collection’s theme.”

What else, outside of the collection, did you prioritize as you produced this season’s show?

“The brand’s priority and the image of the brand is being ever-developed. Your choices have to reflect your values, and sometimes it’s not easy to identify exactly what your values are on day one. … But whether it’s how we cast the show or who we’re going to seat in the front row, it’s a reflection of our values. … We cast really diverse models. We sometimes cast short people and sometimes tall people. Sometimes, we put a guy in a girl’s look. It’s all over the place, in terms of diversity and having multiple body shapes. You’re not going to see 30 looks of the same skinny person. It’s about reflecting what is real in our society now, and having this platform allows me to change and reshape what exists. It’s a big responsibility to be showcasing art with so many eyes [on it] to be inclusive in those ways. … Plus, we don’t necessarily want to have a huge, famous model in the casting and pay a lot of money for that if it doesn’t align and mean something. … It’s about low and slow growth. I would rather my community grow naturally than try to buy it because I don’t have anything to prove to anybody, in terms of being a little brand trying to cosplay as a big brand.”

How do you approach making sure you get a return on investment when you produce a runway show?

“Until I was in this position, I didn’t really understand how it works. Its’s all about resources. Being in the [CFDA/Vogue Fashion] Fund is a huge resource. For instance, if I said, ‘I need help for a free venue,’ then they could access that. A lot of it is also understanding marketing, and that was something I had to learn a lot about this year. Via marketing, we’ve explored partnerships, collaborations and sponsorships. There are so many avenues that I didn’t realize to drive revenue toward the brand if you’re doing a show. … It’s actually an opportunity to profit. But without the resources or the connections, you could easily spend $50,000 out of your own pocket on a runway show — but that’s not how it should be..”

Raul Lopez on his American Express partnership and upcoming show

On Wednesday, accessories brand Luar announced on Instagram a partnership with American Express. “AMEX and LUAR are where luxury begins,” the brand captioned. In addition to sponsoring the Luar show, on Tuesday, American Express worked with founder and creative director Raul Lopez to launch three new colorways of his brand’s celeb-loved Ana bag. The bag will be available on Luar’s e-commerce site in Gold, Rose Gold and White Gold to complement the Amex Gold Card, Rose Gold Card and recently released White Gold Card.

Regarding the partnership, Lopez said it was good timing. “I’ve always wanted to make a gold Ana bag, so when American Express Gold approached me, it was fate. I’ve always seen American Express as a lifestyle brand, and they align perfectly with the essence of Luar: statement-making but approachable,” Lopez told Glossy.

Though he didn’t reveal much about Tuesday’s show, Lopez did share with Glossy that beauty will play a key role. “Every little detail in each of my shows is intentional. I am all about innovation. … So, how can we use hair and makeup to push a look into the future?” Lopez said. “Beauty is such a critical part, and I’m happy that there is so much opportunity to showcase it on such a large platform every season.” MAC Cosmetics is Luar’s official makeup partner.

Since Lopez joined NYFW during the spring 2022 season, the brand’s show has been one of the highlights on the calendar. In February, Beyoncé made a surprise appearance in support of her nephew Juelz who modeled in the show.