The 2026 Met Gala, held on May 4th with the theme "Costume Art," highlighted a significant Indian presence that celebrated heritage craftsmanship. Prominent attendees included Isha Ambani in a Gaurav Gupta gold sari-gown, Karan Johar in a Raja Ravi Varma-inspired Manish Malhotra outfit, along with Natasha Poonawalla, Ananya Birla, Sudha Reddy, and Princess Gauravi Kumari.
Swati Bhat
From Top to Bottom
Isha Ambani Piramal, Manish Malhotra, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Annanya Birla, Natasha Poonawala, Mona Patel
What is Met Gala?
The Met Gala, officially known as the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual haute couture fundraising event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute on the Museum Mile of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Widely considered the world's most prestigious and glamorous fashion event, it is where fame, wealth, power, social influence, and spectacle converge and reach their zenith. Attendees have the chance to showcase their fashion sense, often creating elaborate and highly publicized outfits inspired by the evening's theme and cultural context. Organized by the fashion and glamor magazine Vogue, it's known as "fashion's biggest night", where "haute couture meets history to create the ultimate cultural moment – all in the name of art". Dubbed "the world's most exclusive party", an invitation is highly coveted. Invitees are typically individuals recognized as culturally significant in today's society at the intersection of various professional fields, including fashion, digital and social media, tech, music, Broadway, Wall Street, film, television, sports, and politics.