Prabal Gurung stopped by CBS Mornings to discuss his new memoir, Walk Like a Girl.
The fashion designer’s book, published Tuesday by Viking, tells the story of his childhood in Singapore and Nepal, education in India, and career in the U.S. fashion industry, where he was subjected to racial discrimination. A reviewer for Kirkus called the memoir “an insightful and entertaining look into the life of a famous fashion designer.”
Gayle King, co-host of CBS Mornings, asked Gurung about the title of his memoir.
“‘Walk like a girl’ is a term used pejoratively to demean or diminish someone,” Gurung replied. “For me, it’s a reclamation.…To me, ‘walk like a girl’ is to walk in this world with courage, defiance, softness, and vulnerability and realizing that you’re more than enough, and your existence matters and that you matter.”
Co-host Tony Dokoupil noted that Gurung wrote about watching Oprah Winfrey’s show as a child and then later being invited to make a dress for Winfrey to wear on the cover of her magazine.
“I still cannot believe, still today, after all these years, it happened to me, because…I watched her show back home in Nepal,” he said. “When it happened, all I could think about was that little kid, who dreamed of America, thinking that there might be something that looks like home for me.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
