If you’ve followed along on Instagram, you saw my many snapshots and videos from Fashion Houston last Wednesday evening. The four day event hailed the likes of many well known names in fashion, and Wednesday I had the opportunity to see spring collections by Nicole Miller, Rebecca Taylor, just to name a few… and my personal favorite of the night, Bibhu Mohapatra.
I must confess I wasn’t exactly familiar with Bibhu or his designs, but the moment that first look appeared on the runway, I was truly mesmerized. The ethereal gowns and party frocks, expertly draped pleats and flow that hugged the models’ bodies perfectly… Bibhu had me at hello, and certainly won me over as the presentation went on. Practically all his pieces were my favorites, but the rosette embellishments on the pale pink tee and cocktail dress were simply divine.
Check out some photos and my interview below with the designer. Thanks again to Fashion Houston, the gals at On The Mark Communications and Bibhu for taking the time to speak with me!
Girl Wonder Life (ABA) // Tell me about the inspiration for your Spring 2014 collection.
Bibhu Mohapatra // It’s mainly inspired by my friend who is a ballet dancer… a classically trained ballet dancer. Her name is Wendy Whelan who worked with the New York City Ballet. And then she kind of started to do something else once she turned 40, she begun modern dancing. She broke every rule and reinvented herself. So that’s kind of my departure point, where I wanted to kind of explore how important it is for all of us to reinvent ourselves and start a new beginning. Sometimes it’s not easy, but this is what this collection meant, about a new freshness, a new beginning.
ABA // What does it mean to you and how rewarding is it to have the career you have, doing what you do every single day?
Bibhu Mohapatra // Very lucky. Extremely lucky, because I could be doing something somewhere else that I’m not passionate about. I wake up every morning, even though running and owning a business is so difficult, everyday is not the same, but one thing that is common is my work. That’s fortunate, not everyone has that luxury. They may have a job, they may get paid a lot, but they’re not as passionate as they can be with something else. For me, this is what I’m passionate about, that I have this platform, that I am able to do what I am passionate about.
ABA // If you could choose, what is your favorite item to design?
Anything. I don’t want to be specific about just a specific time in her life. I would like to be a part of her life day in and day out. Anything that inspires me,her lifestyle, her personality…that keeps me going. Be it dresses, be it gowns, be it outerwears, it’s anything, and I love it.
{Photos courtesy of Fashion Houston and On the Mark Communications}
