One of the most important things a fashion designer should have is an imagination. And imagination produces ideas. Remember, denim was an everyday wardrobe staple for laborers before Levi Strauss got the idea to start selling denim jeans in his stores, the miniskirt was an idea that popped up in the collections of Andres Courreges and Mary Quant and made popular in the “Swinging London” of the 1960s; and Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic tuxedo jacket for women was an idea way before it became associated with Yves Saint Laurent and later a staple of chic, sophisticated women’s wardrobes.

That said: Bibhu Mohapatra has a lot of ideas. And for his spring 2017 collection Mohapatra formulated his ideas through his modernized interpretation of the Belle Epoque era. “For spring 2017 my efforts are to look into the unsung muses from the Belle Epoque. These French muses inspired painters, musicians, sculptors and writers and had very special relationships with these women. They were the main source of inspiration for many of these artists; however, we don’t know who a lot of these women were. In a sense, they are unsung. I wanted to investigate these women, and I thought it would be an interesting idea to study these women, many of them who worked in brothels, and were outcast, yet they were a part of the demimonde, and salon society,” explained Mohapatra.

Since 2009, Mohapatra has established himself as a designer that melds lots of ideas into luxury garments that can speak to the modern international woman that is comfortable in a lot of different cultures. This brand DNA holds true to Mohapatra’s spring 2017 collection. And though in this collection Mohapatra does not dress his woman at every jointure of her day—most of looks in the collection are more suitable for upscale night time outings—there were a few pieces in the early part of the collection that would work well as daytime garments.

Still, what stands out most in this spring 2017 collection is Mohapatra’s acuity at assembling different fabrications, embellishments, design techniques and silhouettes, and for the most part, distilling all these seemingly disparate elements into a singular modern expression of beauty. Though, at times, there were too many ideas in the collection which didn’t always meld—some looks were over-embellished, giving the eye too much to absorb—its better to have too many ideas that can easily be controlled, than no ideas at all or to keep regurgitating the same idea.

The graphic elements in this spring 2017 collection evidenced in an ingenious use of linear stripes that helped give a modern patina to many of the structured bodices and wide skirts demonstrated that Mohapatra is deft at taken and aesthetic from a past era and infusing that aesthetic with a modern sensibility that can appeal to a wide range of international women. “There are a lot of fitted bodices and details from that era that I reimagine for today’s women. For instance, I might take inner garments and reverse them, making them the outer garments. I do incorporate some of the fitted elements from the Belle Epoque into this collection; however, for the modern woman I have given those elements more ease. There is a lot draping and combinations of sheer fabrics with heavier fabrics. I like to re-interpret these elements my way without having the garments look very period. That is a challenge I enjoy. I immerse myself in this world and I imagine how that woman lives her daily life and then I extract and make it all my own,” explained Mohapatra.

Images courtesy of Luca Tombolini/vogue.com/indigitalTV

Standout looks in the spring 2017 collection include the brand’s embroidered silk top with silk linen striped trousers, silk linen shirt worn with striped blocked blazer and crepe pleated satin tail skirt, Supima cotton and organza blouse worn with cotton-Lurex jacquard skirt and pearl, cotton and silk jacquard dress worn with silk underskirt, and pearl dew embroidered tulle gown.

—William S. Gooch