Bibhu Mohapatra was having a Mussolini moment. Haunted music piped through a gallery where models, pale-faced and red-lipped, presided like glamorous ghosts from 1930s Europe. A chocolate leather harness fastened across a masculine loden green shirt; silver fox fur lined the hood of a coated canvas parka. The gowns—shimmering, structured bodices that emerged from columns of cascading chiffon––evoked Art Deco architecture, and the print on a long-sleeved dress resembled Futurist facets of a gleaming cube. It’s clear that Mohapatra, former design director at J. Mendel, is a master of the art and science of fashion, but this season—his strongest yet—was all about control.
