He's dressed everyone from Michelle Obama to Cate Blanchett. Rourkela-born and New York-based fashion designer Bibhu Mohapatra was spotted in Calcutta on Monday evening at The Oberoi Grand, where he is staying. The 43-year-old (seen here walking down the Grand arcade) is in town to launch a jewellery line for Forevermark.So how did he spend his first 24 hours back in Calcutta? "I checked into the hotel and went to Victoria Memorial with my sister-in-law and niece and walked around. Then we shopped a bit and walked down Chowringhee. We drove down Howrah Bridge, through Howrah and back into the city through the other bridge (Vidyasagar Setu). At night, we went to Salt Lake to visit my best friend Rana Roy... we grew up in Rourkela together. We had Bengali food from Ami Bangali. I am Oriya so I love my Ilish Maachh."Today, I had breakfast at Threesixtythree° (at The Grand), which was beautiful, and a big lunch at Arsalan, the one next to a flyover (AJC Bose Road), where I ate biryani. I was with my family so everyone picked one dish, there were eight of us. Now I'm getting calls about where we should go have dinner. Am I a rakshas?" laughed the New Yorker about his "first proper Calcutta visit in eight years".The star designer's schedule is packed for the next two days. "There's so much to do and tomorrow (April 18) I am booked for the event (at The Park) but I will try to squeeze some time out. If I have a window I will hit the Indian Museum.... There are so many memories here. Park Street looks so different. The city looks very different but I love it because it has not gotten rid of its patina, or its characteristics... ageing is part of it."Twenty-five years ago, Bibhu was a student trying to apply for higher studies from here. "I would come to Calcutta and stay in a tiny hotel near here, walk up five storeys to my room, which was the size of the bed. It had a shared bathroom. And whenever I'd walk down Chowringhee, I would peep inside this grand hotel. Today, it feels great to be able to stay here!"Bibhu went on to do a Masters in economics at Utah State University and enroll at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. He interned at the iconic label Halston, and went from assistant to design director at J. Mendel in nine years. He quit to launch his eponymous label in 2009 and quickly became a CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) member. Michelle Obama made him famous when she wore one of his dresses on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2012. Over the last few years, Bibhu has stitched his way into the wardrobes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Lupita Nyong'o, Jennifer Lopez, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Sonam Kapoor."I am a romantic when it comes to Calcutta," smiled Bibhu. "People say that New York is the city that never sleeps. I tell them to come to Calcutta because this is the city that really never sleeps."

Reporting by Karo Christine Kumar; picture by Pabitra Das