Bhavitha Mandava Is British Vogue’s March Cover Star | PLUS First Thoughts From Dior

18:50But they took it, which technically is right,

18:54Chioma Nnadi:but because people took it... I know.

18:59Bhavitha Mandava:It's interesting to see how people run with information, you know, like that. Because now they have pictures of me

19:06Chioma Nnadi:and pictures of other actors that have been on British Vogue. And, like, clearly the article said model. and there was like one another model but she happened to be one of the four covers but it's just like it's so technical that also like I didn't like claim anything so today morning within like less than 24 hours like looking at that I was just like whoa yeah

19:34Bhavitha Mandava:I know I do think it highlights the fact that just how important representation is and how important these moments are to people and how it can trigger so so many emotions you know um i've had wonderful responses from friends i feel like the point of all this was not to be like oh

19:55Chioma Nnadi:who's the first but it was the point the point was to keep the representation going and we all are in a way like first in our own way you know especially in a moment like this when we have

20:08Bhavitha Mandava:when when those values are under attack more than ever right and I really I I I totally agree with you I think that's that's such a good uh such a good point um I want to to go back to your amazing origin story I think it's um it's something that feels very special and unique and I think it's part of the reason that people were very excited um about you because it's not every day that we have these these these discovery stories i mean i think back it just harkens back to the era when we when models were discovered on the street or walking through an airport like kate moss or um working at mcdonald's like your um you're like your personal fave yasmin gary she what she was working at McDonald's and you were basically waiting for the subway right take us back to what was happening that day and what you were um and and and how it everything how it

21:10Chioma Nnadi:changed everything so I was on my way to grab biryani with a friend um after I got rejected from an interview and I was waiting for him at Atlantic Avenue that's when my now mother agent scouted me and he came up to me and he was like you're a model I was like no do you want to be one I don't know why I was like so for me like growing up in India academia was like academia was it you know so it was all about like getting good grades getting that nine-to-five job like doing that nine-to-five job like so for me modeling was just like huh I I'm not interested And then we kept talking and because I had like a rejection for my interview and like life wasn't going the way that I planned for it to go.

22:02Chioma Nnadi:Because at that time, tech companies had a hiring freeze and they wouldn't hire. So he was like, you can pay your student debt. So that's when I was like, OK.

22:13Bhavitha Mandava:And you were like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Let's go. Let's go. Because it wasn't the first time you were scouted, correct? Like you'd been approached several times before.

22:25Chioma Nnadi:Yeah, I was approached back home in India. But I guess like the way that my now mother agent approached me felt a lot more professional. Before, like they would just be like, oh, give us your number. I was just a little weirded out. But my mother agent, like he gave me his email and he was like, think about it. And the previous scouting agents that were trying to scout me were so like, oh, you can quit this school and you can just do this crazy thing. I was like, but I don't want to quit school. I actually enjoy studying. Yeah, I only started enjoying studying when I went into architecture. I truly felt like, oh, wow, this is the calling.

23:14Chioma Nnadi:This is my calling. I loved architecture. studying in university because I got to pick what I was interested in um so yeah I was like super hyped about studying at NYU and so like the way he approached me like the way he told that you can pay a few student debt you can continue education this can be like something that you do in the site for now until you graduate if you want to you can do it full-time but if you don't want to we totally understand so I really like that approach yeah you went on to graduate with a

23:45Bhavitha Mandava:master's degree which is fantastic um it's really hard because i yeah how did you manage to to to juggle both the modeling side and traveling and with your books because and having a job on campus

24:01Chioma Nnadi:or did you stop working on campus i was working on campus because that was the only place i had friends um i just don't want to quit it um also modeling is net 90 and my on-campus was every like bi-weekly pay so it made sense for me to keep doing on campus because i had to like pay my groceries and pay my rent and all those things um and with modeling i although i did Bottega and doing a Bottega show is the most privileged a model can have because at that time I mean even now right like Bottega is such a prestigious company and so if you do like a Bottega show or like a top three shows there are other brands that will like start approaching you and there's so many jobs that come your way so essentially like you don't really earn money by walking a show you earn money by doing other things that come after the show uh that's when i had to like decide between what jobs to take and what jobs i cannot take because like they were like it was insane money but it was it was on the day of my exam so no way so you had to turn down a big job like a big job that would have helped me pay my student debt um or like you know at the time like I was not financially um doing well so like I would like skip meals that that's how bad it was so for me to like turn down this job it was like really like sad but I had to do it because I told myself that I'm gonna finish this degree because I was always like going back um every time somebody advised me oh just like take a year break and like get back to it like just milk modeling out I just felt like it just wouldn't make any sense for me to just quit it I'm almost halfway through it I like it I started doing something else to fund it like it just did not make sense for me to purely leave it just because I can make a lot of money I just I was hoping that when I'm done with it this still stays but that's unfortunately not the reality mostly When I did graduate, I did not have many jobs.

26:20Chioma Nnadi:It was only when Chanel approached after like two months of graduating that I, yeah, I got a Chanel contract and then I started working at Chanel.

26:41Bhavitha Mandava:Sometimes people ask me which search terms I use whenever I'm on eBay. So I search a lot of deadstock. That's a term that I throw in there a lot. Deadstock means that no one's ever worn it before, but it is like an archival piece or it's a vintage piece. And so that's a great thing to find on eBay. There's a ton of deadstock vintage. And it's just kind of like comforting to know that like you're the first person taking this like piece on its maiden voyage, even if it's 50 years old. eBay offers this departure from the everyday that ends up feeling totally you.

27:21Bhavitha Mandava:I want to go back to when you first met Mathieu because I remember you hadn't heard of Bottega at the time right what was your knowledge of of fashion at that point in your life what did were you someone who paid attention to what was going on on the runways?

27:37Chioma Nnadi:not at all i i did not know most brands like and people would be like what how how can you not know but i do not know what alaya was but now now that i'm in this industry i'm like how did i not know alaya like alaya is like the coolest brand you know well i knew like brands like chanel dior Gucci like those brands um they did advertise back home as well I just went in not knowing anything about um the brand at all just walked in um and Machi was like tell me about yourself and that's the first time I told him that I'm gonna be honest I just got scouted um um and i've barely walked in heels um so bear with me and then i started walking i don't think

28:30Bhavitha Mandava:it was a good walk but because it was your second time walking in heels right you practiced before new york um yeah how did that walk go i don't think it was good

28:44Chioma Nnadi:but but he just like got up of got up and he gave me a hug and he was like welcome to the family i I was like, are you sure I can't even walk straight? Are you sure? Yeah, it's really surreal that he remembered after a year that I got scouted in a subway. And when the show was in the subway, he was like, bingo, you're opening the show. And even the outfit was an outfit that I would wear normally. And when I got scouted, I was wearing a jumper and jeans. So it was so personal. And honestly, he did not have to do any of this, you know.

29:31Bhavitha Mandava:It was so interesting because he did say when for this piece that I wrote for British Vogue, he said that it was a version of what you wore and he wanted it to be about you, which I thought was so generous because designers, So generous. Designers, they're all about their vision. Obviously, that's what they're thinking about. But it was very, it felt like such a full circle moment for you personally to be opening a show in a subway where you were discovered in a look that was basically a very rarefied version, a very schnellified version of what you'd worn when you were discovered.

30:08Chioma Nnadi:Exactly. And for him to do that for, I mean, I was, let's be honest, I'm a nobody, right? there is no need for him to tell my story but he chose to do it and it just felt so personal for me like i don't view him as a designer i view him as a storyteller more than a designer um like the way he puts up puts the show he like the music the casting to in the couture show like almost all the models had their names embroidered their initials embroidered into the outfit so it's so beautiful it's like it's been like a guardian angel i love how um because you

30:55Bhavitha Mandava:found out i think when we when we spoke you were heading towards a fitting for couture but you really didn't know that you were going to be the bride and what what i found in our conversations is that you really you do your research you are you know you you didn't leave your sort of you kept your student hat on you've researched about fashion I feel like now maybe two years ago you didn't know about Bottega but now I think you're would you call yourself a bit of a fashion nerd you did so much research about couture tell me about what you've learned about fashion researching it and I know that going to Soho now is a bit of a ritual just to see how people are dressed and like how it's changed the way you think about fashion and your own

31:41Chioma Nnadi:personal style yeah i've written so many theses and research papers until now so i really i after i was told that i i'm going to be the chanel bride i went to the library in paris and started browsing books about couture um the techniques and whatnot like the history and what it has evolved now into um i looked up on the internet um why even couture is relevant you know because um right now couture is essentially to like preserve the artisans and art before it used to be about selling but right now couture is definitely about preserving the craft um and only very few brands do that like Chanel is one of them um it's more about keeping up the imagery and so that it like trickles down to cosmetics and perfumes that's how they make money mostly but Chanel Chanel spends so much money um protecting these artisans um even this show that I opened in New York the Metzhiyadad show um it it was built on the fact that they um bought the dying um the companies that were dying because people weren't supporting them they just bought the companies and they make a show out of it so it's like so deeply um it's like love for the craft um and when When I was researching about Chanel Bride, I did not want to, I think Mathieu and I had this conversation when I was doing my fittings.

33:31Chioma Nnadi:We did not want me to stomp on the runway because it's a brighter look. It should not be the same as my walk in the subway. Because subway was supposed to be a rush hour, you know. It had to be like stomp, stomp. like you had to get to places but this was like me walking in a bridal wear so I think a little bit of research I watched almost all the videos of Chanel Brides wow there must be a lot of Chanel Brides to watch there were a lot they were they were pretty good compilations so that really helped me I um um I came up um with a story in my head um I was like okay I'm gonna view the audience around me as if they're my friends and family I'm gonna view the runway as if I'm walking down the aisle and you know just I also watch like videos of actual brides walking down the aisle so you know it's just like they're shy they really did your research yeah I don't know if I did the justice for how much research I did but I did do the research um yeah as you know the intention was to bring this kind of nervousness you're kind of shy you're kind of nervous you're kind of excited um to spend your life with the love of your life essentially um so yeah i said i was just looking around to the audience and i was like smiling and just grateful that they're here on my special day um i just had like a whole storyline going on my head

35:13Bhavitha Mandava:I love that. I mean, you looked very delighted and it was such a beautiful show to witness. I think obviously it was one of the highlights of the week and the energy of the show was just so buoyant and beautiful.

35:31Chioma Nnadi:I feel like the whole show really questioned the idea of couture in Public Eye, because I think a lot of people viewed couture as almost like a spectacle, like a costume, like these big gowns. But the show was quite a contrast. It was more about details. It was more about simplicity, elegance and delicacy.

35:58Bhavitha Mandava:delicacy how does a how did it feel like to wear that the clothes because obviously they looked incredibly like they you looked incredibly comfortable in them I think if you could describe what you were wearing and what it felt like to wear those clothes and what a fitting a couture fitting is like is it different to any other other show I do think it's it's a little bit more

36:20Chioma Nnadi:involved correct oh for sure um yeah i did go to chanel a few days before the show um had a few fittings um and i was just talking to one of the couturier over there and they were telling me that um a lot of the out the most of the outfit was made in mother of pearl um and then because mother of pearl is quite heavy so they had to like substitute here and there with paper that they particularly painted to look like that to give the elution and then there were like other materials like four other materials that they were working with um to make the outfit light because you're just using mother of pearl very heavy it's not you know tell me what the outfit was there were separates yeah they both were separate and it had like a embellishment on the back that was also made by hand um i think you probably saw the other jewelry that was made by hand as well it was not it was not metal it was all by thread and um what do you call it beads um so yeah one of that was behind one of the was on my back and then I had feather on my bun um I also saw that there was a 20 year old couturier contrast to like quite older couturier and he was so excited like I was so glad that you know I was giving him opportunity to like learn um was it his first was it his first show I have a picture of I don't know if I have a picture but I have a I think I have a video or a picture of him crying because it was his first show his first job he's 20 years old and um yeah he's just it was so emotional um yeah it's i mean this is how you preserve art right by teaching um the youth um exactly it was very nice seeing that they they had him over there and he was so involved and And he would just like get his sewing kit and like he would sew on the spot.

38:32Chioma Nnadi:It was so nice to watch.

38:35Bhavitha Mandava:How awesome. How does that moment with couture compare with your own sort of personal fashion memory? What do you remember from your childhood as being kind of the first moment when you became aware of fashion?

38:53Chioma Nnadi:um i don't think i ever was like super fashionable as a person but the first time i felt super cool uh in the way i dressed was i think i had like an emo phase where i had like side bangs almost covering one of my eye and almost like a dog choker you know the one with spikes um yeah yeah all black outfit with like kajal i was like so cool i'm so fashionable i remember look at this i'm like what was i doing um yeah uh even now i think i dress quite i just wear whatever is clean

39:31Bhavitha Mandava:honestly i i remember i talked to anita bitten who was the casting director who introduced you to Mathieu. And she said that the way that you showed up to your first castings, you came in the looks that you would wear to school often, right? So tell me a bit about what you learned about what is appropriate to wear to a casting, what that world is like. What is it, what is like, for the people who don't know what it's like to go to a casting, what's the process?

40:08Chioma Nnadi:um yeah i mean she was actually right like i was just wearing like free nyu t-shirts that i would get um and and then i think in like four castings and i looked around and i was like i'm looking like an odd one out everybody was in like mini skirts and like black pretty much like a black outfit that they wear um so i bought a mini skirt and a black tank top and i did a few castings like that and i just i was just like this is not me so i just went back to wearing whatever i was wearing um yeah castings are like quite interesting they um you called in like you have agencies that picture picture uh pictures and names to casting directors and they'll like call you um I was like quite intimidated I'm not gonna lie yeah I mean it must be so intimidating

41:06Bhavitha Mandava:to walk into a room and and know that you have to a walk in heels yeah and be just kind of pitch yourself and be really um comfortable and they're absolutely gorgeous like everybody is like

41:18Chioma Nnadi:insanely good looking I was like what the heck what the hell is going on here um and most of the like castings um except the one that i've done with machu and a few other creative directors um they don't really like ask you anything they're just like okay walk okay thank you and that's it and it's like you know you're gonna ask a name i guess i already had it in the on the paper but like i don't have any chance to be a personality hired here what the hell like i'm being put in a disadvantage here um yeah so like super intimidating you wait for hours hours and hours and you're just you just walk for like i don't know 10 seconds and they're like thank you for coming and just like shit yeah machu was i think the first casting that i went to um with a brand that he wanted to know me as a person.

42:21Chioma Nnadi:Very, very different castings from the castings that I was before.

42:28Bhavitha Mandava:I mean, I know that you were studying, you studied architecture, you did your undergrad in architecture, and then your master's in product design and tech. If you weren't a model now, what would you be headed towards doing? because you've graduated.

42:45Chioma Nnadi:I think flexibility is such a privilege and if I can keep having that, I would pick that. But yeah, I don't know what the future holds. I do think it would be really hard to go back to corporate after doing something like this. I feel like right now, my life's a dream. um but before what happened to me um if that did not happen I was still like leaning towards getting a corporate job um because it's just like I think it's just ingrained in my brain that it's a safer route or it's you know it's a constant pay but I realized in the right now nothing is constant it you know back when our parents were um working they would stick with a company for their whole lifetime but now there's so many layoffs that happen so many hiding freezes getting a job as a new grad has been almost impossible um a lot of people want to work but there's not enough jobs um so yeah there's like no safe path anymore so might as well just pick the craziest go with it yeah just go with it um when you're young you know and you don't have that much responsibilities yeah i mean what do your roommates from college and friends

44:22Bhavitha Mandava:thing because i know that you you still live with your your roommates from college yeah they're just

44:27Chioma Nnadi:like how did you go from being so nervous to give a presentation because i would get fever when i had to give a presentation um like i would be so nervous and then they're just like how did you go from that to like opening shows they're just so confused they're like what's going on

44:52Bhavitha Mandava:I mean, I will say one of the it was interesting hearing you talk about how that show and opening and that video that went viral of your mother and her reaction to the show, how it opened this whole discourse and the sort of positive messages that you were getting from people that you didn't know. tell me a little bit about about the reaction at that moment because obviously now there's a second wave of that but that initial first wave i think was obviously went around the world so quickly

45:24Chioma Nnadi:yeah yeah yeah i mean it was very interesting because not a lot of people like the general public does not watch runways um so now because the story was so um so personal and interesting and like quite magical it was really cool to watch that to see like people who never indulged in fashion all of a sudden watch this show that was in the subway and I was like a lot of moms wrote me emails being like my daughter gets bullied in elementary school and they were just like we we showed her your um photos and your videos and um in a way to like make that girl be confident in her in herself i thought it was like so so hard it's so heart warming it's i guess like going back to the super model era you know all their wins felt so personal to us like Kate Moss like her win was so personal or um like pretty much anybody Yasmeen Gauri I mean we all of us were rooting for these people you know even the general public we were interested in what they were doing I mean they were influencers even before

46:51Bhavitha Mandava:influencers even existed you know yeah no I mean I know what you mean I do think that there's that they had person we wanted to get to know them and I think people want to get to know who you are and because you're you know your your personality and that depth and that personal connection that they had that was sparked by that video and it's real like you you know you you bring yourself to your work you bring yourself to this job and you you've brought yourself to social media so I think it's open this this discussion which is so great and it's open this dialogue with you which I think is so encouraging um but yeah I before we go and and thank you so much it's been so good to check in with you again because it was a magical day shooting with you and um it really lifted my spirits personally and it has been such a joy to see others being lifted by this um I know you're walking in the Chanel show um what can you tell us now what do What can you tell us about that now?

47:55Chioma Nnadi:I actually don't know. Because I haven't been in Paris since the Couture show. So I actually don't know what the collection looks like. But I asked Matthew last night if I can keep doing fittings with him. Because I think I was mentioning to someone at Vogue recently that me working as a fitting model at chanel has healed me in like so many ways um because i when i was studying architecture and i graduated and started working as an architect um i was in a very toxic workplace environment and i that made me hate the whole discipline itself so for me to like be at chanel and like watching these people will genuinely be happy to be there.

48:48Chioma Nnadi:They're not dreading that they have to do this job. They're so excited. It's been such a contrast and it's like healed me. So I was asking him if I could, yeah, no. So I was just asking if I could do fittings again. So I'll probably know before my actual fitting day, like what the collection looks like if I get to do fittings with them. so yeah I've been making like can I show you something? I've been making a gift for them I actually made you one as well but I guess I'm going to review it now so I've been working with a studio back home in Mumbai to make keychain of a rat that's dressed in my the first the look I opened it's gonna So they work with artisans.

49:44Chioma Nnadi:Oh, my God.

49:45Bhavitha Mandava:How cute. I want one. I'm going to get you one. It's adorable. Please, I need one. How adorable.

49:52Chioma Nnadi:Yeah, it has a functioning bag and it's so cute. Oh, my gosh. I love it. I know. It has like my earrings dangling. Yeah, making that for the whole team. So when I go for a wedding, I'm going to get it to them. Oh, that's so cute.

50:06Bhavitha Mandava:Oh, my God. That's adorable. I love that. I love that. Well, I hope it goes so well. I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines. I'm looking forward to seeing you in London for our talk. It'll be so great to see you. And thank you so much.

50:21Chioma Nnadi:Thank you so much. It was lovely meeting you and doing the Vogue cover with you. Oh, my God. Yeah, that was a ride. But it's been so fun. Thank you so much.

50:36Bhavitha Mandava:That's it for the show today. The Run-Through with Vogue is produced by Chelsea Daniel, Alex DePalma, and Catherine Millsop. This episode is engineered by Pran Bandy and Luke Mosley and mixed by Pran Bandy.

50:55Bhavitha Mandava:My first job in New York City was as a trend forecaster. I do trend forecasting still, and eBay is a part of that because I'll search for things that I'm seeing around, and it will end up directing me in places that I could have never anticipated. And one of the trends that I'm seeing these days is crafting things that are made by hand. And so playing with clothes and accessories to create something kind of distinctive for your wardrobe is a great way of doing it. And getting supplies off of eBay is my favorite thing for it. I'll get like maybe a pair of slippers that I'm wearing right now and then cut them in a specific way and then they're totally my own.

51:32Bhavitha Mandava:And I feel like it's a great resource to create your own trends because then you can both feel like you're bringing something back to life. You're already like pulling it out of the eBay archives. And then you're also adjusting it so that it really expresses your own style, which is something that, you know, people really want right now whenever they are feeling like so algorithmic about the style that's being pushed to them. That doesn't have to be perfect. Things can have rough edges and that sometimes makes them feel more special. From PRX.