***Guests will receive a complimentary copy of Walk Like A Girl as available***

In celebration of both AAPI Heritage Month and Pride Month, join acclaimed fashion designer Prabal Gurung for an unforgettable evening at Asia Society as he unveils his latest book: Walk Like A Girl. A visionary in the industry, he has long championed diversity, inclusivity, and the fusion of cultural identity with high fashion. He will take us through his journey highlighting themes of resilience -- the book title taken from the pejorative insults thrown at him in his youth -- representation, and artistic expression. This conversation promises to be thought-provoking and inspiring, shedding light on how fashion serves as a powerful medium for storytelling, activism, and global change. He will be joined on stage by Lisa Ling, CBS News special correspondent and former co-host of The View.

Don't miss this chance to engage with one of fashion's most dynamic voices, as we bridge the worlds of heritage, pride, and couture in one spectacular evening.

Speakers

Prabal Gurung was born in Singapore and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. After beginning his design career in New Delhi, he moved to New York to finish his studies at Parsons' The New School for Design. Upon graduating, Gurung spent two years with Cynthia Rowley’s design and production teams. Soon after, he was appointed design director at the iconic Bill Blass, a post he held for five years until launching his own collection, PRABAL GURUNG. His designs were worn by leading ladies including First Lady Michelle Obama and The Duchess of Cambridge, to name a few. Notable accolades include the 2010 Ecco Domani Fashion Fund Award, 2010 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund runner up, USA Network’s Character Approved Award recipient in 2011, named goodwill ambassador of Maiti Nepal, a finalist of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, recipient of the 2011 CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear and was honored in 2015 with the inaugural Creativity Award from The Drawing Center. He was the official 2013 designer collaborator for Target, launched a product collaboration with MAC Cosmetics in 2014, collaborated on a collection with TOMS to support Shikshya Foundation Nepal in 2016, launched a capsule with Lane Bryant in February 2017 and was named the Global Creative Director of Tasaki in September 2017. In November 2019, he was named the first ever Honorary Designer of the National Portrait Gallery Celebration at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and published his first coffee table book. In 2022, he was honored as the Designer of the Year at the American Image Awards, was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the 38th Annual Night of the Stars Gala, and won the Positive Social Influence Award as a member of the Slaysians at the CFDA Awards. He was elected as Vice Chair of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, beginning his role in January 2023.

Lisa Ling (moderator) is a special correspondent for CBS NEWS where she has produced multi part series’ on the Crisis of Caregiving, the Psychedelic Renaissance and the State of Spirituality. For nine seasons she hosted and executive produced THIS IS LIFE on CNN where she embedded with a notorious biker club, reported on the opioid crisis’ youngest victims and highlighted a unique book club in a maximum security prison. For five seasons prior, she hosted and executive produced OUR AMERICA for the OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK(OWN) and was the field correspondent for THE OPRAH SHOW. She was also a contributor to ABC NEWS’ NIGHTLINE. She was the first female host of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S flagship series EXPLORER, where she investigated the deadly MS-13 gang, went undercover inside North Korea and explored the drug wars in South America. She got her start in journalism as a correspondent for CHANNEL ONE NEWS where she covered the civil war in Afghanistan at 21 years of age. She later went on to become a co-host of ABC daytime's hit show THE VIEW, which won its first daytime Emmy during her time there. She is the co-author of Mother, Sister. Daughter, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood, and Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and The Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home that she penned with her sister Laura. She sits on the boards of the prison re-entry organization CROP, the California Partner’s Project (CPP), The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) and the Kids Mental Health Foundation (KMHF).

This program is part of the Asian Diaspora Project, which is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).