Priya Sachdev: What was the inspiration behind your S/S ’16 line?
Bibhu Mohapatra: The inspiration was my muse, Annemarie Schwarzenbach – a Swiss-German journalist and photographer. She was a Bauhaus design icon and she lived only to be 34 years old, but she travelled all over the world and she had a unique sense of style. She always dressed in men’s clothes and was very, sort of, vocal about it. She was a trailblazer. After she passed away the whole – her aura – the legacy of her journals that she left made her an icon.
PS: What was the primary new direction?
BM: Oh, a lot of newer shapes, lot of cut outs, more skin, lot of new materials also. I’ve used kind of all-weather materials too. So it’s a big collection, and it is deeper in every category. It has lot of day wear, lot of tailoring, lot of soft drape-y things, lot of trousers – soft trousers, wide-leg trousers, narrow pants – skirts and leather and silk and lace. It’s a really lot of materials combined together.
PS: Which three looks are you partial to?
BM: Oh I don’t know. It really all depends on what sells the most; that becomes my favourite child.
PS: Which style icons would you imagine in this collection?
BM: I see Cate Blanchett in a lot of them, because she wears tailored things really well, even soft drape-y things.
PS: Tell us about your collaboration with Forevermark, how did that come about?
BM: We used some of their jewels this collection to style the looks and the whole idea was to try and use the beautiful exclusive jewels and make the day looks richer. So, we are possibly in conversation; something big to be announced hopefully soon. I love their product, they stand for unique quality and design so, I associate with the brand really well.
Flip through the gallery to check out the line
