In his 16 years in business, Bibhu Mohapatra has staged just one evening show. That changed tonight when he presented his latest collection at the Pierre hotel, which was an ideal setting for the kind of elaborate occasion wear the designer is known for. It was also a big change from last season, where the runway was actually Mohapatra’s work and shop space.
The past few seasons have been a bit bumpy for the designer and it was nice to see more cohesion for fall. Politics were less in the equation than usual and he seemed more relaxed and in the mood to have fun, much as he imagined his heroine to be. Mohapatra’s reference was the photographer Helmut Newton’s photographs of women in the late ’70s and ’80s. “There are always two things about his work, he made women powerful but also made them into objects,” said the designer pre-show. “And also he shot mostly white women, except for Grace Jones.” Mohapatra’s key takeaways from all this were power, fetish, and flesh.
There were few daring displays of skin in this collection; rather the designer used sheer insets to reveal peeks of it. Using a wide black corset belt to cinch the waist on an ivory Alençon lace gown (look 29) created a nice dissonance, as did latex leggings under sheer skirts. A Stockman-shaped tunic paired with a tulle skirt, both with the same beaded embellishment, was elegant and simple, ditto a matching apron-front peplum top and skirt set with strass and “Yves” blue (the designer’s color of the season) applied in stripes.
Mohapatra teamed up with Janavi India for scarves again, and also for knitwear, a category that should play well in the his boutique. There was still some awkwardness in silhouettes and the placement of the sheer panels, but the strong-shouldered finale dress was just that, a show stopper. Eat your heart out Alexis Carrington.
