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Walk Like a Girl by Prabal Gurung

Memoir

Walk Like a Girl

by Prabal Gurung

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Quick take

Walk in Prabal Gurung’s glitzy footsteps as he confronts the fashion world and empowers change on and off the catwalk.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, LGBTQ_themes

    LGBTQ+ themes

  • Illustrated icon, International

    International

  • Illustrated icon, NYC

    NYC

  • Illustrated icon, Glamorous

    Glamorous

Synopsis

Walk Like a Girl is the story of a queer boy who yearned for a world beyond the confines of prejudice he experienced growing up in Nepal and India. He came to New York, a hopeful immigrant lured by the siren song of the American Dream, only to encounter pernicious discrimination as he rose within the glossy world of New York high society and high fashion. Chronicling his rise to success as a fashion designer, Prabal reveals the inner workings of this beautiful, treacherous, rarefied world—and what it takes to survive.

With brutal honesty, Prabal takes us on a journey from Nepal to New York, and from the harrowing experiences that shaped him to his inspiring, hard-won ascent to the designer he is today, dressing American icons like Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Kamala Harris.

Walk Like a Girl is also an ode to Prabal’s mother, Durga Rana, whose unwavering love and support gave him the courage to be unapologetically himself. To understand that the things people wanted to shame out of him were, paradoxically, his superpowers.

A defiant anthem for the soul, Walk Like a Girl is an invitation to rewrite your story. To shatter the mold into which society has tried to cast you. When we learn to embrace the power of vulnerability, the beauty of imperfection, and the infinite possibilities within each of us, we begin to see the extraordinary power within ourselves, waiting to be unleashed.

Content warning

This book contains scenes depicting sexual assault and mentions of domestic abuse and eating disorders.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of Walk Like a Girl.

Walk Like a Girl

CHAPTER ONE

In one of my earliest memories, I was five years old and sitting on the ivory, raw silk, tufted stool in front of my mami’s mahogany wood vanity. I was staring at her collection of lipsticks, a neat row of compact cylinders lined up between several bottles of face cream and perfume. There were photos of my siblings and me to my right, next to a fresh bouquet of jasmine plucked from my mother’s garden, and a picture of my grandmother who died before I was born.

Hindi music was playing in the living room, where my older sister, Kumudini, was engrossed in a book and snacking on titaura, a special treat made of Nepali hog plums. My brother, Pravesh, the responsible middle child, had already finished his homework and was now helping with household chores. Everyone was quietly in their own corners, including our housekeeper, who was in the kitchen prepping ingredients for my mother, an excellent cook, who always made dinner when she arrived home from work. My favorite time of day was when I was sitting with her and my siblings around the dining table, sharing stories.

As I sat in front of the mirror, I ran my fingers over the top of all those glossy tubes, pausing at a shiny gold cylinder with YSL etched in brilliant black on one side. My heart quickened as I picked it up, pulled off its top, and twisted the bottom to reveal the most beautiful dark ruby-​­red tip.

A light summer breeze danced through the window, making the ivory silk curtains flutter. My heart was fluttering, too. I looked in the mirror, puckered my lips, and began to smear the red tip over them, nervous and excited.

I’d watched Mami sitting in front of this very vanity countless times, mesmerized by the transformative power of lipstick and eyeliner, which took her from daytime polish to evening chic in a matter of minutes. I’d also witnessed her work magic with concealer and powder to camouflage the bruises and scratches from fights with my father, never once wincing or flinching. Stoically gazing into the mirror, she would apply the foundation, then powder, then blush, methodically making herself even more beautiful than she already was. Witnessing this nightly ritual made me believe she was invincible.

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The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
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LGBTQ+ themes
View all
Walk Like a Girl
Gifted & Talented
Sky Daddy
The Sun Was Electric Light
Every Sweet Thing Is Bitter
Oathbound
Liquid
Our Infinite Fates
The Bones Beneath My Skin
We Could Be Rats
Isaac’s Song
The Three Lives of Cate Kay
I Might Be in Trouble
Most Wonderful
The Teller of Small Fortunes
The Crimson Crown
Blue Sisters
The Pairing
A Thousand Times Before
The Lost Story
Spitting Gold
The Lady Waiting
Five Broken Blades
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love
Alice Sadie Celine
The Future
Let Us Descend
Stars in Your Eyes
You, Again
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
The Light Pirate
Kiss Her Once for Me
Foul Lady Fortune
Thistlefoot
Woman of Light
Siren Queen
Marrying the Ketchups
Yerba Buena
The Verifiers
Love & Other Disasters
Razorblade Tears
One Last Stop
Skye Falling
Honey Girl
The Prophets
Memorial
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
The Death of Vivek Oji
The Boy in the Red Dress
A Burning
The Vanishing Half
The Knockout Queen
Untamed
The Great Believers
Red, White & Royal Blue
Full Disclosure
Wayward Son
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
All of Us with Wings
How (Not) to Ask a Boy to Prom
Lot
The Deceivers
A Ladder to the Sky
The Heart’s Invisible Furies
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
The Animators