The Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities turned the Costume Art carpet into a showcase of Indian craft, from Karan Johar’s Raja Ravi Varma cape to Isha Ambani’s gold-thread sari. Here are the eight desi looks that defined the night.
The Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities list was led by Karan Johar, who made his Met debut in a Manish Malhotra cape inspired by Raja Ravi Varma, and Isha Ambani in custom Gaurav Gupta. Sudha Reddy’s Kalamkari “Tree of Life” gown, which reportedly took more than 3,400 hours to make, completed the headline trio.
The gala took place on Monday 4 May 2026 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The theme was “Costume Art”, with the dress code “Fashion Is Art”, and Indian guests answered it with handwork rather than borrowed glamour.
Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities at a glance
- Date: Monday 4 May 2026, the first Monday in May
- Venue: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Theme: Costume Art, exploring how clothing, performance and visual culture connect
- Dress code: Fashion Is Art
- Co-chairs: Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams
- Ticket price: a reported $100,000 per seat, up from $75,000 in 2025
- Indian designers on the carpet: Manish Malhotra, Gaurav Gupta and Mayyur Girotra
- Indian looks in our list: 8
The night also marked the opening of the Costume Institute’s new Condé M. Nast Galleries. According to the Met Gala’s Wikipedia entry, the 2026 edition raised a record $42 million for the institute.
1. Karan Johar in Manish Malhotra
The film-maker’s debut look, titled “Framed in Eternity” and styled by Eka Lakhani, paired a vintage jacket with a cape of nearly six feet, hand-painted after Raja Ravi Varma works including Hamsa Damayanti. Zardozi on a rubberised base gave the lotuses and swans a three-dimensional lift.
Gulf News put the work at more than 5,600 hours. Johar told t2 that he “didn’t want to arrive here trying to explain India”, and the cape made the point for him. Of all the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities, Johar gave the most literal answer to Costume Art.
2. Manish Malhotra in his own design
For his second consecutive Met appearance, the designer wore a sharp bandhgala under a white cape titled “Mumbai”. The cape is embroidered with the names and signatures of the artisans who made it, a tribute that Variety India says involved 50 craftspeople and 960 hours.
Putting the makers’ names on the garment was one of the quietest and smartest ideas of the night. He finished the look with pins from his own jewellery line.
3. Isha Ambani in Gaurav Gupta
Isha Ambani, one of the most photographed Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities, wore a custom Gaurav Gupta sari woven with pure gold threads by master artisans at Swadesh, styled by Anaita Shroff Adajania. Harper’s Bazaar Arabia reported that more than 50 artisans spent over 1,200 hours on it, with Pichwai-inspired motifs, zardozi and aari work.
Her blouse carried jewels from Nita Ambani’s personal collection, and her hair was crowned with a jasmine sculpture inspired by the gajra. She carried a mango sculpture by the artist Subodh Gupta, a playful nod to home.
4. Sudha Reddy in Manish Malhotra
The Hyderabad businesswoman and philanthropist wore “The Tree of Life”, a royal blue corseted gown built around Kalamkari, the hand-painted textile art of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A seven-metre trail with peacock motifs and a metal vine at the back completed it.
Her necklace, a 50-carat tanzanite piece, was reported to be worth $15 million. Among the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities, hers was the look that leaned hardest into scale.
5. Gauravi Kumari of Jaipur in Prabal Gurung
Princess Gauravi Kumari made her Met debut in a pink chiffon sari that belonged to her grandmother, Maharani Gayatri Devi. Prabal Gurung reshaped it into a gown while keeping the original drape, so the heirloom itself walked the carpet.
Pearls and rubies kept the jewellery classic. It was the most understated of the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities looks, and arguably the most personal.
6. Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur in Prabal Gurung
Also styled by Gurung, the young Maharaja wore a velvet coat quilted with cotton in the style of a traditional Phulghar coat. A team of Jaipur artisans spent more than 600 hours on aari, zardozi, dabka and resham embroidery.
The structured shoulders gave royal tradition a modern cut. Standing beside his sister, he made the strongest case of the night for menswear rooted in Rajasthan.
7. Natasha Poonawalla in Marc Quinn
The most art-world look of the group came from the British sculptor Marc Quinn, working with Domenico Dolce. Natasha Poonawalla wore an oversized white silhouette with a sculpted orchid bodice and a matching headpiece.
A familiar face at the Met, she again chose sculpture over embroidery. That made her the clear outlier among the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities, in the best way.
8. Ananya Birla in Robert Wun
At her first Met Gala, the singer and entrepreneur wore Robert Wun couture styled by Rhea Kapoor: a tailored blazer over a pleated, liquid-metal ballroom skirt. The talking point was her mask, which the artist Subodh Gupta made from traditional Indian stainless steel tableware.
Turning everyday kitchen steel into armour was a clever reading of the theme. It also meant Subodh Gupta’s work appeared on two of the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities in one night.
What the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities got right
The theme rewarded clothes that tell a story, and Indian craft is built for that. Hand-painting, Kalamkari, zardozi and heirloom chiffon carried more meaning on this carpet than another sequinned gown would have.
The Gulf News verdict on India’s heritage looks called India the quiet winner of the night. The common thread among the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities was that the craft, not just the wearer, was the point.
It also shows how far Indian designers have come at the Met. A few years ago, Indian guests mostly wore Western houses. In 2026, Manish Malhotra and Gaurav Gupta dressed several of the night’s most talked-about guests.
More Indian names on the Met Gala 2026 carpet
Diya Mehta Jatia, another of the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities, wore Mayyur Girotra, with Bengal’s shola craft laid over a Kanjivaram base woven with gold and silver. The full roll call is in The Hollywood Reporter India’s guide to the Indians on the carpet.
Reports before the event suggested Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a regular at the gala, might skip this year. The names above are the Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities confirmed in published coverage of the night.
Met Gala 2026 Indian celebrities FAQs
Which Indian celebrities attended the Met Gala 2026?
Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Isha Ambani, Sudha Reddy, Natasha Poonawalla, Ananya Birla, Gauravi Kumari, Sawai Padmanabh Singh and Diya Mehta Jatia, among others.
What was the Met Gala 2026 theme?
The theme was Costume Art, with the dress code Fashion Is Art. It explored the relationship between clothing, performance and visual culture.
What did Karan Johar wear to the Met Gala 2026?
A Manish Malhotra look with a vintage jacket and a hand-painted cape inspired by Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings. It was his Met Gala debut.
For comparison, revisit our Met Gala 2025 red carpet highlights, and find more red carpet coverage in our Celebrity Fashion section.