Modern Nautical in Prabal Gurung x Lane Bryant

When the Prabal Gurung collab with Lane Bryant was first announced, I was incredibly excited. Prabal is a designer I’ve admired for years, so I loved the fact that he was taking notice of the most populous market in the nation. While learning about the collab, I also discovered that Prabal has been offering his high end designs in plus for a while, but stores wouldn’t carry them. He also faced derision when the Lane Bryant collab was announced, as detailed in the latest story on the plus market from The Cut:

During a premiere party for Straight/Curve, a documentary on body image in fashion, Gurung told the story of a woman who walked up to him at an art opening and asked, “Why are you making clothes for fat people?” His response was terse and clear: “I said to her, ‘Words are very powerful. They impact and affect lives. The majority of American women haven’t had a voice, haven’t felt like they belong in our world, and I wanted to be sure that they do. It’s people like you who make statements like these — there’s a reason I wanted to do this.’ ”

After reading this, my admiration for Prabal skyrocketed even higher – many designers are letting the stigma of dressing large bodies stop them, so the fact that he is confronting these prejudices head on is fantastic. I truly hope more designers can follow this lead.

The great execution of the Prabal Gurung collab with Lane Bryant certainly doesn’t hurt either. This striped wrap top is cute and polished, and the fit on the culottes is impeccable.

This is one of those outfits that gets compliments ALL DAY, so be prepared. I found the fit on the pants to be true to size, and I sized down one in the shirt to get the cropped silhouette I was looking for. Get your usual size if you want it to be longer.

I loved my accessories for this look too. This ring handle red bag is much cheaper than you’d think, and my perforated block heel booties are very comfortable.