From subway to runway: Bhavitha Mandava's Chanel journey is peak Gen-Z magic

For 25-year-old Hyderabad-born model Bhavitha Mandava, the New York City subway has always been more than a commute. Long before she stepped onto an international runway, she was posting snippets of her life from its platforms: filming very model off-duty-esque videos of her fits (while listening to the Periodic Table Song; a sign of true nerdiness), doing her makeup between stops, and even celebrating her NYU convocation in cap and gown and joking that “the rats don’t run the city, I do.”. That same subway would eventually change her life. First as the spot where she was scouted, and now as the site where she made history as the first Indian model to open Chanel’s Métiers d’Art 2026 show.

A chance discovery in the subwayIn 2024, what had been a familiar backdrop became the setting of a turning point when she was spotted in the subway by Matthieu Blazy, then creative director at Bottega Veneta, just two weeks before the Spring/Summer 2025 season. The encounter led to her runway debut as a Bottega Veneta exclusive, followed by a campaign for the house. From that breakthrough moment, her runway trajectory accelerated quickly, taking her to major shows including Christian Dior and Courrèges.

A New Yorker at heart, with desi humour intactEven before her discovery, Bhavitha’s videos had the easy energy of a young New Yorker navigating daily life. Think running errands with an iced coffee in hand, headphones on, rushing across platforms. Yet her reactions and occasional 'girl in STEM' quips kept her rooted in her upbringing, giving her posts a desi relatability even in the most quintessentially NYC setting. One social media user summed up this familiar appeal: “LITERALLY ME WAITING FOR THE METRO ON MY WAY TO MY OFFICE AAAAAAAAAAAAA.”

JNTU to ChanelBefore fashion came calling, Bhavitha’s world revolved around design and technology. She completed her Bachelor of Architecture at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU) and later earned a master’s degree in Integrated Design & Media at New York University, specialising in Human-Computer Interaction. A licensed architect and trained product designer, she balanced academics and creative ambitions long before modelling entered the picture.

A ‘poetic full-circle moment’Opening Chanel’s Métiers d’Art 2026 show at Bowery Station also brought her back to the setting where her journey first began. For someone whose everyday life (and early content) was shaped by the New York subway, the moment marked a full-circle return to the place that took her from standing clear of the closing doors to stepping confidently through them.
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