Labour Of Love

Inspired by the strongest female influences in his life, designer Bibhu Mohapatra’s latest capsule collection might be his most deeply personal yet.

- Rochelle Pinto

Bibhu Mohapatra would like you to know that he’s a feminist. Dyed-in-the-wool and unabashed. And not just because it makes good business sense in 2018 for brands to align themselves with the resounding chorus of female voices demanding their place at the table. But because he was raised by strong women and he just doesn’t know any other way.

“For me, my first language or sensibility of colours and patterns came from my mother, Sashi,” he says. “She was a traditional woman, but she was also very curious about what was happening within the world and popular culture. When I told her I wanted to learn fashion designing, she just said, ‘Here, sit at the [sewing] machine.’ Neither she nor my father knew what it meant to be a fashion designer, but they always let my sister and me make our own decisions, and they supported them.”