Diana Penty, Sonam Kapoor and Athiya Shetty just made the case for the craft jacket as the most versatile piece in your wardrobe. Penty layered a structured cropped jacket over a custom Manish Malhotra gold knit sari at Cannes 2026, introducing a modern power-dressing energy that somehow made a classic drape feel completely new. Kapoor chose a muted gold dress as her base and let a vibrant Mayyur Girotra jacket, rich with Kutch mirrorwork and Punjabi craft , do all the talking. While Shetty went full maximalist in a hot pink House of Masaba structured cape covered in signature motifs over a tissue kurta. Three completely different occasions, yet they make the clearest argument anyone has made for why the craft jacket is not a supporting character in a bridal outfit. It is the outfit.
Embroidered or structured, it’s made with the kind of artisanal detailing that takes months to make and the result is as versatile and re-wearable as it gets. The other thing worth noting is that the craft jacket has no dress code. You can dress it up or down. Be it over a sari at the next wedding, over a plain skirt at a reception two years later, over a simple kurta at Diwali when you want to look like you tried without trying or to glam up a brunch over jeans. The zardozi, the gota patti, the threadwork; none of it dates because it was never confined to a particular moment to begin with. It earns its value every single time it leaves the wardrobe (P.S. that turns out to be more often than not). The jacket is the statement, everything else is the canvas. Here's the craft jacket edit for this wedding season:
