Bibhu Mohapatra is taking on fashion week with LilaNur Parfums — again.
The brands, which previously partnered on a backstage scent experience for Bibhu Mohapatra‘s fall 2022 collection, are reviving the collaboration for Mohapatra‘s upcoming New York Fashion Week show this Monday.
As part of the activation, there will be a LilaNur scent station backstage featuring a number of the brand’s scents and attars, primarily focusing on Davana Cèdre, which retails for $285 and was created by Firmenich master perfumer Honorine Blanc with notes of the Indian herb davana, cedar, pink pepper and musk.
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“I always say my collections are a study and juxtaposition of opposites,” said Mohapatra, whose muse for the collection was the late British heiress and activist Nancy Cunard, a figure he felt Davana Cèdre was emblematic of. “Nancy Cunard had that femininity, but also led with a masculine side in her work and the way she lived her life, and we’re trying different ways to create that [juxtaposed] environment for our audience.”
While the backstage experience will only be accessible to talent and VIPs (last year’s included Miss Universe 2021, Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu and other friends of the brand) Davana Cèdre will also be diffused at Spring Studios, where the show is being held. Front-row attendees will also be given the fragrance in a sample size.
Since LilaNur’s 2021 founding by Anita Lal and Paul Austin, Mohapatra has found a natural synergy with the brand, which aims to bring Indian ingredients and philosophies to Western perfumery.
For Mohapatra’s TriBeCa flagship, slated to open later this year, the designer envisions a permanent LilaNur fragrance counter, which he said will, “solidify the association between both brands.”
“Our mission is to inspire the world with India and its scent culture; it’s wonderful to find people like Bibhu who see our light and pour into us, and with whom our partnership is a lovely, long story yet to be told,” Austin said.