Prasad Bidappa, city-based fashion stylist, choreographer and image consultant who has shaped India’s fashion industry for over four decades, opens to TOI on his bests of Bengaluru. Bidapa, an NID alumnus who champions traditional Indian textile revival, has discovered and mentored some of India’s leading models including Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, and Lara DuttaYou have spent your life around fashion and aesthetics. What is uniquely stylish about Bengalureans? Or how does the city’s fashion compare with those of other Indian cities? Bengaluru is brand-led, not designer-bullied. The techie figured out long ago that comfort is the real luxury. Mumbai overdresses, Delhi over-logos, Bangalore just… shows up in perfect RTW and looks like it owns the room. We are the Ready-To-Wear capital of India — practical, unpretentious, and always quietly expensive.What is the most Bengaluru sentence you have ever heard?Sakkath, maga. Two words. The ultimate Bengaluru seal of approval. Works for a masala dosa, a bike, a breakup, a runway. Nothing more needs to be said.You have discovered and worked with generations of models. Does Bengaluru still produce a distinctive kind of talent or personality? What’s the city’s secret?Bengaluru’s secret is its women. They move fearlessly. The aggressive ‘male gaze’ you feel up North doesn’t patrol our streets. Add to that the warm, welcoming Kannadiga core plus this mad, marvellous cosmopolitan influx — and you get confident, grounded, global kids. They don’t try too hard. And that’s what makes them stand out everywhere else.Which Bengaluru pub, bar or watering hole carries the best memories for you?Oh, you want my entire debauched youth? Chin Lung — where Human Bondage played and we all pretended to be very rock-and-roll. The Only Place — for our first real burger and pizza education. Topkapi on top of PU Building, Blue Fox on MG Road, and Princes and Knockout Disco on Brigade Road. And through it all, Koshy’s. Always Koshy’s. My office, my canteen, my confession box.Your ultimate Bengaluru comfort food?Ghee masala dosa. Crisp enough to shatter, potato palya that melts like gossip, with that green coconut chutney that should have a GI tag of its own. And a steel tumbler of filter coffee on the side. Nothing has ever beaten it. Nothing ever will.
