From a student in US to Chanel’s 1st Indian show opener ever – Here's how Bhavitha Mandava shot to fame

Etching her name into the fashion world, Bhavitha Mandava, a 25-year-old girl from Hyderabad, became the first-ever Indian model to open for the luxury fashion house, Chanel.

Dressed in a comfortable, chic beige quarter-zip sweater and classic denim jeans, Bhavitha made history as she opened for Chanel’s Métiers d’art 2025-26 collection in New York, designed by Matthieu Blazy, where models walked on a subway platform next to a parked train.

This was the first time Chanel had showed in New York City since 2018.

It has not been too long for Bhavitha, a licensed architect and product designer, to have ventured into the world of fashion. A little over a year ago, Bhavitha was just an Indian student in the US before she was scouted by someone on the New York subway in October 2024.

According to The Juggernaut, Bhavitha graduated from New York University (NYU) in 2025 with a master’s degree in Integrated Design and Media, as well as Human-Computer Interaction. She did her bachelor’s in architecture from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad.

Bhavitha has previously walked in Paris for Blazy’s Chanel debut show in October and worked with him when he was at Bottega Veneta.

“I was nervous. When I first started modelling, I didn’t know much about the brands I worked with,” Bhavitha told Harper’s Bazaar India in October. “I grew up middle-class in India, so this world was completely new to me.”

She told the magazine that her parents were her biggest champions. “They’ve supported me unconditionally, even when none of us really understood what modelling entailed,” she said. “I still remember calling my dad after my first ever show, completely stunned, trying to explain the world I had just stepped into.”

After her historic Chanel New York show opening, Bhavitha shared a video reaction of her parents to her achievement. Overwhelmed with joy, her parents could be seen tearfully cheering on her as she descended the steps of Bowery Station and stepped onto the runway.

“Can’t put into words how much this means to me. Thank you, Chanel,” she wrote in her Instagram caption.