Bollywood at the Met Gala, A Cultural Crossover or Couture Necessity?

The Met Gala’s Evolution from Society Affair to Global Fashion Stage

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, better known as the Met Gala, is more than just a red-carpet event. Held on the first Monday of May in New York City, the Gala serves as a fundraiser for the Costume Institute and unveils its annual fashion exhibition. What began in 1948 as a modest fundraiser has today transformed into a multi-million-dollar fashion Super Bowl, recognised for its bold themes, avant-garde looks, and A-list guest list of global celebrities. Each year’s theme, from Heavenly Bodies to Camp, from China: Through the Looking Glass to Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, invites designers and celebrities to push creative boundaries, fusing fashion with philosophy, politics, and culture. 

Bollywood at the Met Gala: Trend or Timeless Contribution?

In recent years, the Met Gala’s glittering stairs have found a new glamour - Bollywood. There’s no denying the visual splendour Bollywood brings to the Met Gala, but is it essential?

The answer lies in impact.

Bollywood’s tryst with the Met Gala began with Priyanka Chopra Jonas in 2017, who made headlines in a dramatic Ralph Lauren trench gown. She has since become a regular, showcasing looks from Dior to Camp-inspired couture, paving the way for Indian representation not as guests, but as icons.

Deepika Padukone debuted the same year, later turning heads in a Barbie-pink Zac Posen gown. Fashion icon Natasha Poonawalla brought bold Indian-European fusion, notably with a Sabyasachi saree over a Schiaparelli corset, reminding the world that couture has no borders

In 2023, Alia Bhatt made a memorable debut in a 100,000 pearl-studded Prabal Gurung gown inspired by Indian bridal wear. The look was conceptualised with Gaurav Gupta’s sculptural drama in mind, a designer already making waves with his molten-black creation for Cardi B. Bhatt returned in 2024 in a custom Sabyasachi ensemble reflecting vintage glamour and Indian textiles.

By 2024, the movement was impossible to ignore. Isha Ambani chose a hand-embroidered sari gown by Rahul Mishra, highlighting sustainability and traditional craft.

Met Gala 2025 cemented the momentum with a focus on artistic sustainability and narrative dressing. Diljit Dosanjh stunned in a Prabal Gurung sherwani and turban, inspired by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, with a cape featuring a map of Punjab in Gurmukhi script, earning him the top spot on viewers’ best-dressed list. Janhvi Kapoor made her debut in an intricately layered saree ensemble by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, using recycled materials and traditional embroidery. Shah Rukh Khan made a majestic debut in a regal black Sabyasachi ensemble complete with a silk tailcoat, jewelled cane, and ‘K’ pendant. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a Met Gala veteran, wore a sharp polka dot Balmain suit-dress adorned with a Bvlgari necklace featuring a 241-carat emerald. Kiara Advani, expecting her first child, glowed in a sculptural Gaurav Gupta gown that artistically symbolised maternal connection. Isha Ambani blended Western cuts with Indian detailing in an Anamika Khanna piece. Natasha Poonawalla turned heads in a Manish Malhotra creation that layered vintage Parsi Gara saris with a corset-jacket ensemble and a lace cravat by Atelier Biser. 

Bollywood’s growing presence at the Met Gala is not just a nod to their celebrity status, they act as ambassadors of India’s creative economy, drawing global eyes to rooted crafts and positioning India as a mainstay in global luxury fashion.

These appearances serve a dual purpose:

• Indian designers like Rahul Mishra, Gaurav Gupta, and Sabyasachi are now dressing not just Bollywood but Hollywood stars too, bridging fashion cultures and bringing regional crafts to global audiences in fresh, relevant ways.
• Bollywood stars don’t just wear clothes, they wear history. Banarasi brocades, Kanjeevaram silks, and zardozi embroidery, their choices spark conversations around sustainability, craft revival, and ethical fashion topics that are increasingly central to the global style agenda.
• They inspire design crossovers, from bridal fashion weeks in Mumbai to avant-garde showcases in Paris and New York.
• In an event often critiqued for its Western gaze, Bollywood introduces nuance, diversity, and a broader cultural canvas.

Why Indian designers matter at the Met Gala?

• Cultural Sustainability: Designers like Mishra, Sabyasachi, and Anamika Khanna uplift India’s fading crafts with chikankari, zardozi, gota work, and more, giving them a modern voice on a global platform.
• Narrative Couture: Unlike fast fashion, Indian couture tells a story. Each ensemble often takes hundreds of hours and dozens of artisans to create an ode to slow fashion.
• Aesthetic Diversity: The Met Gala thrives on unpredictability and bold vision. Indian designers, unafraid of colour, texture, and maximalism, offer a welcome contrast to Western minimalism.
• Global Clientele: From Beyoncé in Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla to Zendaya in Rahul Mishra, Indian designers are now on global speed-dial.

Why the Next Big Gala should be on home turf?

The Met Gala is one chapter, but perhaps it’s time India pens its own. Why not a “Couture Gala” in the most picturesque city, celebrating Indian textiles the way the Met Gala celebrates Western fashion? With Bollywood, fashion, and heritage in one frame, the possibilities are endless. A handwoven carpet instead of the red carpet. Saree-clad silhouettes, sherwanis reborn, and lehengas that rival architecture. An event not just showcasing style and tradition, but telling stories.

At the Met Gala and beyond, India is no longer arriving, but IT IS DEFINING.