The Met Gala red carpet has just wound up and this time there was the notable absence of any big Bollywood stars on the steps of the Costume Institute. But that’s not to say there wasn’t some strong desi representation. There were at least two takes on the sari: Isha Ambani and Gauravi Kumari in Gaurav Gupta and Prabal Gurung, respectively. Meanwhile, the designer Manish Malhotra had not one but four different looks by his atelier showcased over the course of the evening—on Karan Johar, Sudha Reddy, himself, of course (shoutout to his dramatic Mumbai-inspired jacket), and actors Camila Mendes and Dwayne Johnson (the latter wore Manish Malhotra High Jewellery).
Indian craftsmanship too took the spotlight. Ambani’s sari featured hand-painted pichwai motifs, Johar’s jacket was a painted mashup of multiple Raja Ravi Varma paintings (Varma’s work was also cited as inspiration by Ambani’s stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania), while Diya Mehta Jatia’s sculptural Mayyur Girotra look spotlighted shola carving, a craft traditional to Bengal, with a shola bodice and panel that was layered over a Kanjivaram silk base.
It wasn’t all Raja Ravi Varma paintings when it came to artistic inspirations. Contemporary artist Subodh Gupta got two mentions—Ambani carried a steel mango by him in her bag, while heiress Ananya Birla and her stylist Rhea Kapoor roped in Gupta to create a stainless steel mask that she paired with her tailored Robert Wun look. Another more avant garde look came courtesy Natasha Poonawalla, who opted to embody a giant white orchid in a gown by Domenico Dolce and the sculptor Marc Quinn.
Isha Ambani in Gaurav Gupta
Sudha Reddy in Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra in Manish Malhotra
Karan Johar in Manish Malhotra
Padmanabh Singh and Gauravi Kumari in Prabal Gurung
Ananya Birla in Robert Wun
Natasha Poonawalla in Marc Quinn
Diya Mehta Jatia in Mayyur Girotra
Bhavitha Mandava in Chanel
