Since launching his eponymous label in 2009, Prabal Gurung has gone from wunderkind  designer to full-on established force in the fashion world, winning 2010's Ecco Domani Fashion Fund Award, 2011's Swarovski Award for Womenswear and recently teaming up with J. Crew on a much buzzed-about collab. I chatted with him about his "sistaz" and the various artists who inspired his Spring line.

Kim Hastreiter: So how do you feel about the fact that summer is pretty much over?

Prabal Gurung: I will miss the warm weather and summer weekends in Fire Island with my really close friends, my "sistaz": The dinners, conversations, laughter and fun. But I do love the fall. A new season means new opportunities and maybe this fall I will "fall" in love. Ha!

KH: Were you inspired by anything in particular this past summer that we might see in some future collection?

PG: Yes, soccer. And sports in general.

KH: So can you give us any hints about your upcoming S/S 2012 collection?

PG: I have been doing lot of research about this particular Japanese artist (Pierrre Molinier) and photographer (Araki) who I have always admired and they inspired this collection in many ways. You'll have to wait until the show to really see it come to life though!

KH: What are you most excited about this coming Fashion Week?

PG: I am always excited to see work of my peers and other designers I respect. It's really exciting to see where their head was and what they were inspired by. I am a real fashion geek and love and admire so many designers. I am like a school kid when it comes to Fashion Week, and just want to soak it all in. I love watching live-streams of shows as they're happening. If there is a designer I really love, I'll sit up the whole night to watch it -- even if it's at an odd hour. Besides that, I look forward to reconnecting with all the people that I love from all across the globe. And oh yes... my six-year-old niece's comments about my collection are always absolutely amazing. She is my toughest critic.

KH: What do you do to keep from stressing out at this insane time of year?

PG: I have a great team I work with who will NOT indulge me in my stress which is really good. My friend and stylist Tiina Laakkonen is a source of calm for me. Then I have my family -- my brother and my sister -- whom I Skype with, and my mom -- we meditate togethervia Skype. Yup, I am in New York and she is in Nepal!

KH: Where are you showing?

PG: At IAC headquarters. This is the first time in a few seasons we are showing outside the Tents. Thanks to MAC's support we are able to realize this dream. I was particularly enamored by this Frank Gehry designed building as a venue. It seemed like the perfect backdrop/canvas to the work I've done this season.

KH: What's your favorite look from your new collection?

PG: It's like Sophie's Choice! I love them all but there is this print, which is the central theme of the collection, that I spent more than six months working on. It took lot of research and trial and error. The end result is something I am very proud of. There is this jacket in this print, and from afar it looks like any other blazer. But if you look at it closely every seam, every print matches to a T. I never thought it was humanly possible for me to achieve this -- and call me dramatic if you will -- but when I saw it finished I was in tears.

KH: Who's your ideal customer?

PG: Anyone who is cool enough to not know or act like she is cool. And definitely a smart gal. No one ditsy and dumb please. I don't suffer fools.

Photo by Hanuk

PAPERMAG's Complete Spring 2012 Fashion Coverage