Michelle Obama wears Rourkela designer's creation

Bibhu Mohapatra talks about dressing the US First Lady, why Glenn Close wants to shoot a video with him and his project with the Odisha govt.
How far is too far when it comes to measuring the distance traversed by a middle class boy from the steel township of Rourkela to the White House? More than just the physical distance, it is about accomplishing a distant dream. When news of Michelle Obama wearing Bibhu Mohapatra’s dress at the Jay Leno show reached the sleepy town of Rourkela, it was a reason for a collective high in Odisha.
Speaking from New York, Bibhu still gets goosebumps when he recalls how his family reacted to the news. “I had sent them a clip so that they could watch the show. Later, when I called them up, I was pleasantly surprised to know that there was a gathering at home. There was a frenzy and for a moment, I felt as if I had missed out on someone’s birthday. It took some time for me to understand that they were all rejoicing the fact that the First Lady of the US had worn my creation,” says Bibhu.
This, however, doesn’t mean that everyone back home understands international fashion trends. “When my mom was alive, she had once seen a photograph of a model in one of my outfits and said that the lady doesn’t wear clothes where she needs to and instead has a tail sweeping the floor!” says Bibhu, fondly laughing at the innocence that gave birth to such a comment. “I come from a very humble background. My father, who is an engineer, still can’t understand how one can make a livelihood by being a designer. When they read about me in magazines, their reaction stems out of pride and joy and not from an understanding of my creations,” he explains.
But for the man himself, Michelle Obama wearing his creation is a reason for pride. “She is super real. She has a trained eye and knows what exactly looks good on her. I knew she would be taking my dress on her trip to the Olympics. Before she appeared on the Jay Leno show, I got a call from her staff at the White House saying: “Watch out for the show. You’ll be happy”. That was the longest 10 hours I had spent before I could watch the show at night. I’ve already dressed quite a few celebs but there is something different about Michelle Obama. Her reach is huge. Even her staff understands what her support means to me and my fellow designers. I haven’t met her as yet but I’ve heard that she has said that she feels cute in my dress.”
As he speaks about the Obama connection, one wonders how he stays grounded without succumbing to an overwhelming sense of pride that comes with dizzying success. “That has a lot to do with my family. I distinctly remember my struggle days. I had followed my brother from Rourkela to Kolkata. I used to stay in a cheap hotel behind Chowringhee. Peeling paints, common toilets with creaking doors that had eroded on the sides and bedsheets that weren’t washed for weeks — our hotel resembled an unclean hospital ward. The size of the room was barely that of the desk I now have in my New York office. The whole day, my brother and I would roam around Kolkata and by the time we returned to the hotel at night, we were half-dead. We could barely manage to climb up the flight of stairs to the fifth floor and then crash in bed. Yet, we were happy. Kolkata shares the same energy as New York. That inspired me,” he says.
Soon he speaks about the first time he was supposed to travel to the US. “I woke up at 5 in the morning and went to the visa office so that I would be the first one in the queue. That was in 1995 and I still hadn’t even seen an aeroplane before. Both mom and dad came down to Kolkata to see me off. The night before I was supposed to leave, my dad sat me down and shared with me a lesson of life: “If anyone does anything for you, remember it. Don’t measure what the person did just remember the contribution”.”
That, Bibhu feels, has kept him rooted. “I have often seen my father sit up in bed in the middle of the night wondering how to pay his staff when he ran his own company. My mother was very supportive and would insist that he pay his staff instead of saving for us. Today, whatever values I have inculcated, is because of them.”
Regrets, if any, are that of not being able to take his mom to the US. “My mom passed away after having spoken to my aunt about how excited she was to visit me in New York. Later, I told my dad to visit me but he said he would feel horrible to go to New York now that the person who really wanted to go wasn’t around,” his voice trails off.
But before he allows emotions to choke him, he talks about his recent tryst with Hollywood star Glenn Close. “She has worn my clothes earlier and last week, she came to get the fittings done. I have been inspired by watching her in movies such as Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liasons. The fact that someone like her comes to my studio makes me all the more humble. And then to be told that she and her husband want to shoot a video of creative people that includes me makes me even more rooted,” he says.
As far as his own roots are concerned, Bibhu is more than happy talking about his project with the Odisha government that taps his passion for using ethnic fabric to create something modern. “I am involved in this project with the Odisha government to conceive a line of textiles. I had gone to Odisha on a five-day trip when I visited four or five villages that have their own styles of weaving. I am waiting for the first set of samples to arrive so that I can start work on using the ikkat weaves for creating something modern,” he offers.
While talking international trends, what does he think has been most hyped? Pausing for a moment, he says, “I think, it is the association of the colour black with edginess. I love black but an all-black attire doesn’t mean being edgy for me. I like to play with light and shadow.” And what is his definition of being sexy? “A mysterious sophistication is what I’d call the ‘right sexy’. It empowers a person. A ‘wrong sexy’ tag would go for overt explicitness. When I dress someone, I don’t make her a different person. Instead, my dresses bring out more of the person.”
Having courted so many Hollywood celebs, doesn’t he aspire to design for movies? He has designed for an opera but hasn’t got any movie offers yet. But Bibhu is a huge movie buff and back in New York, whenever his professional appointments in the evenings fall through, he invariably watches an Odia or a Hindi movie. “The standard of Odia movies has gone down from what it was in the late 60s or early 70s. I got hold of this old video of an Odia song — Nida bhara rati — and watched it. It was so beautifully picturized. The young blood needs to revive that spirit while shooting contemporary Ollywood movies.”
But that will take time and before it happens, Bibhu will be returning to India in October. This time around he wants to get some of his creations for sister Lopa, who was his first muse. “The last time she wore my dress, she was all giggly even though most parts of her body was covered. It covered more than what a sari does.” This time around, he will get something else and as always, gift-wrap it with love.