Bibhu Mohapatra

Bibhu Mohapatra, born in RourkelaOrissaIndia, is an Indian-American fashion designer and costume designer.

After earning a Masters degree in economics from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State Universityin 1996, he moved to New York City where he enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Technology. In 1997, while still at F.I.T., he was awarded Fashion Institute of Technology’s Critics’ Award for Best Evening Wear Designer of the Year.

Upon leaving F.I.T., Halston hired Mohapatra as an assistant designer. In 1999 he was named Design Director of the French furrier, J. Mendel. Over the next ten years, Mohapatra shifted J. Mendel’s emphasis to a more youthful look, at the same time expanding its ready-to-wear collections. His creations have been featured in dozens of fashion publications all over the world, including New York Magazine, Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Vogue and Vogue Russia.

Following J. Mendel’s Spring 2008 collection, Mohapatra launched his own label: Bibhu Mohapatra. Under his own name he has presented many collections of luxury women’s ready to wearcoutureand fur, at New York Fashion Week and in Mumbai during Lakme Fashion Week.

Mohapatra’s costume designs for the Verdi opera Aida debuted at the 2012 summer season of the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, NY and First Lady Michelle Obama donned a Bibhu Mohapatra dress for her appearance on the Tonight Show in August 2012.

In keeping with his roots, Mohapatra has designed a collection of hand woven silks made by the traditional weavers in his home state of Orissa, India. Today Mohapatra lives and works in New York and the Hudson Valley.

www.bibhu.com

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