Mohapatra Designs Costumes for Opera

In a previous post, The Fashion Grid covered Rodarte's costume designs for the L.A. Philharmonic production of Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni. It's clear designing costumes for such productions has become a popular platform for fashion designers, as earlier this summer, Bibhu Mohapatra designed over 30 costumes for the Glimmerglass Opera premiere of Verdi's Aida.

Francesca Zambello, the General & Artistic Director of Glimmerglass Opera, approached Mohapatra after attending his Fall 2011 collection. The result is a modern, but still elaborate take on the classic Verdi work, in which the Ethiopian princess, Aida, is kidnapped and enslaved by the Egyptians, whose military commander, Radames, falls in love with her. 

“It’s such an emotional story about love and country and duties. It’s almost like a Bollywood story for me,” said the India-born Mohapatra on his website. As a graduate of CFDA's Incubator Class of 2012, Mohapatra has been recognized as a force in the industry, with leading publications covering his work and celebrities wearing his designs. 

After moving to New York City from his native land, Mohapatra attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the prestigious Critic’s Award for Best Evening Wear Designer during his senior year. He subsequently went on to work for J.Mendel before he launched his own label during NYFW in February 2009.

We here at TFG have been following and writing about this emerging talent's amazing designs and were excited to see him take on such an artistic fete. Check out the video below, where you can see more of Mohapatra's looks for the production and hear him discuss the design process behind the costumes. To see all his previous fashion collections, click here.