Most seasons Bibhu Mohapatra harnesses the power of a specific muse (last season was Patti Smith, the one before was an imagined garden meeting between Françoise Hardy and Georgia O’Keeffe). This time, however, Mohapatra focused not on a titan of pop culture, but on his own lived experiences. “I thought it would be difficult for me to strike the balance of what my clients want versus the story, but it was actually much easier than I expected,” he said.

This past July, Mohapatra traveled to India to perform funeral rites for his parents and older brother, scattering their ashes in the Ganges River. But after hours of prayer, he found that he wasn’t ready to let them go. “Since then, the floodgate of memories started coming to me, things that I had forgotten,” he said. “I wanted to take some time to really soak.” Hence The Pilgrimage, his fall 2025 collection imbued with memories from his early life in Odisha, India, with particular influence in his mother’s artwork.

The clothing was at times busy, and would have been better served with a bit of editing. Mohapatra’s best work comes from acts of restraint, letting one piece shine without the aid of embellishments. The aubergine flocked lace dresses, shearling-lined moto jackets, and white sari skirt were standouts. While all the trappings of a typical Bibhu Mohapatra collection were present, this felt more soulful than his others. Above all, Mohapatra’s impulse to tell his own story proved a wise decision—one he should continue to expand upon.