NYFW Spring 2013: Prabal Gurung's Red March

9:00 AM, September 9 2012

By John Jannuzzi

Thanks to the wonders of Instagram, most of my seatmates had seen the model's blood-drip nails at the Prabal Gurung Spring 2013 show long before Joan Smalls ever hit th runway. But there were still some surprises in store. With an invitation illustrated in oxblood, we could only suspect that all things pointed to red.

The show opened with Smalls slinking through mist and lights in an all-white tailored suit with a floaty tail. The opening ensembles were more somber than the others, with a focus on black and white. Slowly but surely, we saw flashes of red, and then silver. Gurung's designs for Spring 2013 were inspired by the world of Anish Kapoor—according to Women's Wear Daily, at least—as well as how women dress in the Far East. And or the third season running, there was a focus on digital prints. For Spring 2012 he gave us digitally altered lilies, for Fall 2012 he created melted cow skulls and for Spring 2013, it was dripping florals.

Standout pieces included the drop-waist evening gowns, formal shorts and the Casadei shoes.