Bibhu Mohapatra

Bibhu Mohapatra is a New York-based designer celebrated for luxury women's ready-to-wear, couture and fur, with eveningwear at the heart of his reputation. He spent a decade at J. Mendel creating its ready-to-wear collections before launching his own label, so the gowns carry serious couture pedigree. If you want a special-occasion piece with a refined, sculptural sensibility, his work is exactly that calibre.

Bibhu Mohapatra (born 7 June 1972 in Rourkela, Odisha, India) is a New York-based fashion designer and costume designer. He learned to sew on his mother's machine as a young man, practising on vintage textiles such as saris, before moving to the United States in 1996. Today he designs luxury women's ready-to-wear, couture and fur under his own name.

He grew up in Rourkela, Odisha, on India's east coast, where his mother taught him to sew using vintage textiles like saris. In 1996 he moved to America and earned a master's degree from Utah State University, then relocated to New York City in 1999 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. That journey from Odisha to New York shapes the cross-cultural feel of his work.

His name is built on luxury women's ready-to-wear, couture and fur, and his gowns are the clearest expression of that craft. For a first piece, an evening gown or a couture-level dress shows off the refined, occasion-ready sensibility he is known for. These are the designs that have carried his label across cities from New York to Mumbai.

Yes. Before launching his own brand he worked with Halston and J. Mendel, and in 2008 he resigned from J. Mendel after a ten-year career creating its ready-to-wear collections to establish his label, Bibhu Mohapatra - Purple Label. That decade of high-end ready-to-wear experience underpins the polish of his own collections.

His collection is sold in his boutique in New York City and is available in exclusive boutiques globally and online. His retail store and atelier sits at 174 Duane Street in TriBeCa, Manhattan. Shopping through the boutique or authorised retailers is the surest way to get an authentic piece.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is a client of Mohapatra's, and he has said he feels she reflects his designs well. That kind of high-profile patronage speaks to the standing of his eveningwear in luxury circles. It is a strong signal of the craftsmanship and refinement behind the label.

He received the "Young Innovator Award" from the National Arts Club on 27 May 2010, and in June 2010 he was elected a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. He was also a finalist for the 2014 International Woolmark Prize. These honours mark him as a recognised name within the American fashion establishment.

Yes, he is also a costume designer: he created the costumes for Verdi's opera Aida at the Glimmerglass Opera in 2012, and was invited to design costumes for the post-COVID reopening of the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center in 2021. He also launched a collection of diamond jewelry in 2016. His creative range goes well beyond the runway.

On the charitable front, Bibhu designed several collections of hand-woven silk saris to help the traditional hand weavers in his home state of Odisha. He is also a co-founder of The India Society, a New York-based organisation that helps fashion and fine-art students with tuition and internships at US universities. That connection to craft and community is part of the label's character.