Bhavitha Mandava has two university degrees
Before she became the hottest model on the runway, Mandava studied architecture at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, India. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she moved to New York to pursue a Master of Science in Integrated Design & Media/Human-Computer Interaction at New York University.
Even after she was scouted, Mandava never gave up on her academic career. She juggled her campus job at MYU MakerSpace and back-to-back classes, all while flying to Europe every weekend to model. But despite the odds, she graduated from NYU in May 2025, and now has two degrees and “a heart full of gratitude”.
Bhavitha Mandava is a product designer with a background in architecture
August 29, 2025 going to a company event
Photo: @bhavithamandava via Instagram
At NYU, Mandava worked as a communications specialist at MakerSpace, the university’s prototyping lab. Like the rest of us, Mandava is on LinkedIn, where she describes herself as a New York-based product designer who is passionate about “bridging human experiences with emerging technology”. She also says she loves making pasta. Who doesn’t?
Bhavitha Mandava was scouted on the subway in New York
December 2, 2025 at the Chanel Métiers d’Art 2026 show
Photo: @bhavithamandava via Instagram
Fashion legend has it that she caught the eye of Matthieu Blazy, then-creative director at Bottega Veneta, while waiting for the subway in New York. But Mandava recently revealed in an Instagram post that it was a scout from 28Models who approached her, just two weeks before the Bottega Veneta Spring/Summer 2025 shows a year ago. She initially refused, but when the scout mentioned she could pay off her student debt, she accepted. The scout then sent her photos to casting director Anita Bitton, who showed them to Blazy.
Bhavitha Mandava made her modelling debut with Bottega Veneta only two weeks after being scouted
Bottega Veneta Spring/Summer 2025
Photo: Gorunway.com
Blazy cast Mandava on the spot and put her in the fashion house’s Spring/Summer 2025 show in September 2024. Her look was a simple white, oversized, short-sleeved shirt over a pleated skirt. The outfit was paired with open-toe, snake-print heels and a yellow handbag. For a grad student who was scouted only two weeks ago, Mandava walked the runway with confidence and elegance.
Bhavitha Mandava followed Matthieu Blazy to CHANEL
Chanel Spring/Summer 2026
Photo: @bhavithamandava via Instagram
In December 2024, Blazy was named the new artistic director of CHANEL. Mandava walked in Blazy’s debut Spring/Summer 2026 show for CHANEL, wearing a black dress with gold, feather-like tassels and pink feathers at the hem. This marked the start of a professional and creative partnership with Mandava that she’s very grateful for.
Bhavitha Mandava became the first Indian model to open a CHANEL show
Chanel Métiers d’Art 2026
Photo: Filippo Fior/Gorunway.com
And now, that partnership has come full circle. Blazy appointed Mandava to open CHANEL’s Métiers d’Art show in December, the first Indian model to do so. And if that wasn’t enough, the show was set in an abandoned New York Subway station, where Mandava’s modelling career first began. She wore a beige quarter-zip with blue jeans, paired with white heels with black tips and a brown bag with a black coat fitted on the bag. Mandava recognises the serendipity of the moment, and shared her parents’ excited reactions to her appearance in the show.
Bhavitha Mandava walked as the Chanel bride
From a chance encounter on a New York subway platform to becoming the Chanel bride, Mandava’s fashion journey has had its fair share of full-circle moments. In January 2026, she took on one of the most coveted roles in Blazy’s debut haute couture collection for Chanel. For the occasion, she immersed herself in Chanel’s bridal history, visiting Paris libraries to study the house’s brides who had had walked the runway before her. For someone whose modeling career had begun barely two years ago, it was quite the chapter to add to the story.
Bhavitha made her Met Gala debut in denim
Mandava’s first Met Gala appearance came with a clever nod to the moment that changed her career. In May 2026, she walked the carpet in Chanel denim and a quarter-zip, revisiting the look that had made her Métier d’Art runway debut so iconic. The original outfit had taken her from a New York subway platform to Chanel history; at her Met Gala debut, it became a red-carpet statement of its own. It was an unexpectedly casual choice for fashion’s biggest night compared to extravagant gowns, and all the more memorable for it.
Editor
Noella Lee and Matt ChauCredit
Lead Image: Courtesy of CHANEL
