Flair lights up runways at NY Fashion Week

NEW YORK (AFP) – In a world of globalization where any successful clothing design is quickly copied and mass marketed, designers like those starring in New York Fashion Week want that little extra wow to make their mark.
Or, in the case of Prabal Gurung on Saturday, a lot of extra wow.
As the first days of the Autumn-Winter 2011 collections got underway at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan, Gurung, who was born in Singapore and raised in Nepal, came up with a show stopper.
A new darling of US fashion, Gurung wowed the fashionistas with a glamorous, richly created collection that combined complex techniques and cuts.
Far from the buttoned-down simplicity long promoted by American creators, including Gurung last season, he mixed racy accents of the 1930s with the luxury of the 19th century, bringing a flamboyant and over-the-top femininity.
Draped dresses with open bustiers in a deep, sensuous red, feathers, lace and broken-pattern stockings visible through long slits combined with stunning effect, the redness of it all set off by heavy black leather belts.