The effect of bending is anticipated in an optical fiber design, so that resonant coupling remains an effective strategy for suppressing HOMs. The index profile of the fiber and its bend radius are configured so that there is selective resonant coupling of at least one HOM, but not the fundamental mode, in the bent segment of the fiber. In an illustrative embodiment, the core and cladding regions are configured to support the propagation of signal light in a fundamental transverse mode and at least one higher-order transverse mode in the core region. The cladding region includes an outer cladding region and an annular trench region. The trench region includes at least one axially extending, raised-index pedestal (waveguide) region having a refractive index higher than that of the outer cladding region.