Met Gala 2026: Isha Ambani to Karan Johar to Manish Malhotra, how Indian stars brought their heritage and culture on the red carpet

The Met Gala 2025 saw the debut of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. And the grand event of 2026 saw Indian celebrities like Isha Ambani, Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, and Ananya Birla. What united them and their outfits was how they all brought Indian tradition and heritage with their looks on the red carpet.

Decoding the outfit of Isha Ambani

The saree was woven with threads of pure gold by artisans from Swadesh, an artisan-only retail brand launched by Reliance Retail. Talking about what she wore, Ambani told Vogue in an interview, “The blouse is full of my mother’s jewellery pieces.”

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What designer Gaurav Gupta wrote

“Over 1800 carats of diamonds, alongside emeralds, polki and kundan, are embedded into the garment (the blouse), transforming it into a living surface of inheritance and form,” designer Gaurav Gupta wrote in an Instagram post.

Karan Johar

Karan Johar made his Met Gala debut in a bespoke outfit by friend and celebrated designer Manish Malhotra that draws inspiration from the art works of renowned Indian painter, Raja Ravi Varma.

The outfit, ‘Framed in Eternity’, features Johar in a power-shouldered vintage jacket over hand-painted cape-approximately six feet in length. It took 80 plus artisans some 85 days to create the piece that has been painted by hand.

Sharing a post on Instagram, the filmmaker wrote- “From loving cinema and costume as a wide-eyed dreamer to standing on the steps of THE Met Gala…life really does come full circle in the most unexpected ways. This moment wasn’t just about fashion for me. It was about storytelling. About taking the legacy of Raja Ravi Varma and letting it live again…”

Manish Malhotra

Crafted over 960 hours by a team of 50 artisans across Delhi and Mumbai, the cape stood out for both its scale and detail. Traditional Indian techniques such as dori work, zardozi, chikankari, and kasab embroidery were used in a subtle palette of white and ivory.

Ananya Birla

The entrepreneur was seen in a structured black couture outfit by Robert Wun, styled by Rhea Kapoor.

The highlight of her ensemble was a metallic mask created by artist Subodh Gupta.