With just a few days left until the First Monday of May, we're eagerly anticipating what Indian celebrities will wear to the Met Gala this year. Over the years, India's presence at the Met has increased, with numerous celebrities from the country and its diaspora attending the event in show-stopping looks. The dress code for this year is “Tailored for You.” While we eagerly look forward to the interpretation of the theme by attendees, we take a look back at all the Indians who made the cut for the most anticipated fashion event of the year.
Alia Bhatt
2024
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Bhatt broke the internet with her custom mint-green sari by Sabyasachi, featuring a 23-foot-long train. The sari was embroidered with florals using silk floss, glass beads, and semi-precious stones. Her loosely tied hair was held together with ropes of gemstones, mirroring the embellishments on the sari. She completed the outfit with long earrings made of tourmalines and diamonds, along with stacked cocktail rings from Sabyasachi Accessories.
2023
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Alia Bhatt's highly awaited Met Gala debut in 2023 did not disappoint. Bhatt wore a custom Prabal Gurung gown inspired by Karl Lagerfeld's bridal look for Chanel's 1992 fall/winter collection. Her all-white outfit had pearls embroidered all over it giving her a dreamy look while her edgy white fingerless glove was a nod to Lagerfeld's personal style.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas
2023
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Priyanka Chopra Jonas opted for a Maison Valentino look that featured an all-black strapless dress with a bow and a thigh-high slit. She also wore white leather gloves with a black faille cape and white bows at the sleeves and completed the look with some Bulgari jewels.
2019
Perhaps one of Chopra's boldest looks, this frenzy of feathers was made by Christian Dior for the theme of the 2019 Met Gala, Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion. The corseted grey tulle gown taking inspiration from the character Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland was embroidered with a gradient of feathers in pale colours. It featured a thigh-high slit and a cape in the back. Chopra opted for a whimsical hairdo with a high crown,white frosty lashes and bold berry lips.
2018
Chopra donned this Madonna inspired Ralph Lauren maroon velvet gown with a gold lacework headpiece that was embroidered in India for the 2018 Met Gala. The theme was Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. The actor styled her look with Cartier jewellery and a bold maroon red lip.
2017
Chopra wore this Ralph Lauren trench coat inspired look for her debut at the Met Gala in 2017. Chopra was one of the first Bollywood celebrities who attended the Ball with her husband Nick Jonas. While Chopra's look was made to honour the theme of the year, Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between, it ended up inspiring numerous memes on social media and became a sort of a pop-culture moment to remember.
Deepika Padukone
2019
Before Barbiecore was even a trend, Deepika Padukone embodied the iconic doll in this pink gown made by Zac Posen for the theme Camp: Noted on Fashion. Padukone opted for an extravagant high ponytail and went for bold marsala lips. The strapless gown was constructed out of lurex jacquard and featured 400 pieces of three-dimensional embroidery.
2018
Padukone chose Prabal Gurung to design her red sculptural gown for the 2018 Met Gala with the theme Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. To go with her look the actor did a bold red lip and slicked back hair alongwith minimal sculptural diamond earrings.
2017
Padukone made her debut alongwith Priyanka Chopra at the Met Gala in the year 2017, appearing in a Tommy Hilfiger satin gown in honour of the theme Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between. The gown featured a backless detail and Padukone styled her look with diamond flower jewels on her hair and long drop earrings.
Isha Ambani
2024
Last year, Ambani attended the Met Gala wearing a hand-embroidered couture sari gown designed by Rahul Mishra. The gown was adorned with flowers, butterflies, and dragonflies, crafted with precision through various techniques, including Zardozi, Nakshi, and Dabka. She styled the look with a choker, earrings by Viren Bhagat, and a bag by Swadesh and Jade by Monica and Karishma.
2023
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Another custom Prabal Gurung creation was seen on entrepreneur Isha Ambani at this year's Met Gala. She was donning a sumptuous black one-shoulder outfit with hand-embellished crystal and pearl detailing on the border with a long silk chiffon train in the same colour. Ambani looked glamorous in the outfit paired with oodles of Lorraine Schwartz jewels and a Chanel doll bag designed by Karl Lagerfeld himself.
2019
Ambani wore this pale violet tulle gown designed by Prabal Gurung for the 2019 Met Gala featuring the theme Camp:Notes on Fashion. The voluminous gown was hand-embroidered with crystals and ostrich feathers and took over 350 hours to be made.
2017
In 2017 the young Ambani debuted on the red carpet of the Met Gala in a Christian Dior haute couture gown embellished with pearl accents and floral details. Ambani opted for minimal glam and paired her outfit with diamond earrings.
Natasha Poonawalla
2024
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Poonawalla arrived last year in a piece from Maison Margiela's Artisanal Collection by John Galliano. The sculpted white strapless bodycon dress overlaid with sheer black torn chiffon was accessorised with a large, puffy white beret, look-at-me pearl studs, and lofty Christian Louboutin heels
2023
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Natasha Poonawala, entrepreneur and style-icon, once again leaned into her love for dramatic, avant-garde aesthetics and sported a custom all-silver Schiaparelli gown with long, pointy edges framing her face that was inspired by some looks showcased in Schiaparelli's Haute Couture 2023 collection. Poonawalla finished the look with a sleek ponytail and looked chic, snatched and futuristic.
2022
This Sabyasachi sari paired with a Schiaparelli gold corset featuring a astronomical inspired detail put Poonawala in the Best Dressed List for the Met Gala in 2022. The billionaire gave an Indian twist to the theme Gilded Glamour by appearing in her Sabyasachi and Schiaparelli outfit. She paired her look with stacks of heavy bejeweled bangles and long dangly earrings embedded with large uncut precious stones.
2019
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Poonawala's icy blue outfit for the 2019 Met Gala was designed by Peter Dundas, it featured a halter neck crystal embellished bodycon dress with a voluminous pleated draped skirt and large crystal belt accent.
2018
For Natasha Poonawala's debut at the Met Gala in 2018, she chose a gown designed by Prabal Gurung that featured a New York inspired by graffiti prints and a corseted bodice.
Diya Mehta Jatia
2023
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Another Indian in attendance at the Met Gala was Diya Mehta Jatia who also sported a Prabal Gurung look. Her ensemble consisted of a gown made of a black bodice and a billowing emerald green skirt and earrings from Ashoka by William Goldberg. She also sported middle-parted hair pulled back in a single braid and that was bedecked with a stunning embellished temple design headgear as a nod to her Indian roots.
Sudha Reddy
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Sudha Reddy attended the Met Gala 2024 in a tailored off-shoulder gown by Tarun Tahiliani, enhanced by an exquisite necklace valued in crores from her personal collection. Her ensemble showcased intricate embroidery with delicate French knots, 3D butterflies, and couching, and both the dress and its flowing cape were crafted by a skilled team of 80 artisans, requiring 4500 man-hours to complete.
Indian-origin celebrities at the Met Gala
Simone Ashley
2024
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Ashley returned to the steps wearing a midnight blue sequined gown by Prabal Gurung. The sleek design featured cutouts at the waist and a deep V-neck. The standout element of her look was the makeup: She recreated Cher’s signature '70s style, with statement eyes highlighted by a bold purple eyeshadow.
2022
Ashley attended the Met Gala in 2022 wearing a Gilded Glamour inspired look made by the Moschinno creative director Jeremy Scott in a patina gold coloured bustier top with a riding coat style coat that Scott adapted from the opening scene of Bridgerton.
Mona Patel
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For her debut look, Mona Patel arrived in custom Iris Van Herpen couture. A dreamy nude floor-grazing sculpted gown with a butterfly-shaped corset and scalloped train that pays homage to the theme Garden of Time. Her gown features kinetic flower petals encircling her arms, fluttering in slow motion, a design devised by the entrepreneur herself.
Frieda Pinto
Pinto was a vision in a spring/summer 2010 Chanel couture ivory silk gown for the 2011 Met Gala which was themed Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. The actor who gained fame for her role in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, was one of the first celebrities from India invited to attend the Gala way before spotting Bollywood was a norm for fashion's biggest night out. Tory Burch designed her outfit in collaboration with Swarovski that was worn by Pinto for the Met Gala in 2016. The theme for the year was Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. The linear white gown featured specially designed Swarovski crystals that embellished it in a cross pattern and resembled computer microchips.
Mindy Kaling
2024
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Kaling arrived at the Met Gala in a Gaurav Gupta’s "The Melting Flower of Time." The blush pink sculptural gown made a lasting impression with its slightly sheer fabric shaped into Gupta’s signature plissé waves, forming an ethereal floral motif that well complemented the theme of “The Garden of Time.”
2023
Mindy Kaling's Jonathan Simkhai gown shimmered and sparkled as she walked the red carpet. Kaling unlike her movie character in Ocean's 8 did not steal any jewels this time but ended up drenched in crystals for the evening. The silvery-white dress embroidered with daisy flower motifs, featured a fitted corset style bodice and a floor length fringe accent that had feathers peaking out of it's lining. The actor completed her look with a slicked back ponytail and smoky eye makeup.
Being a longtime Met Gala attendee, Kaling has donned designers with the likes of Prabal Gurung, Moschino,Tory Burch, Vassilis Zoulias in the past.
Lily Singh
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The Youtuber wore this lily inspired outfit made by Moschino creative director Jeremy Scott for the Met Gala in 2019. She paired her look with purple flowers in her long braided hair and a statement making necklace with black rubber gloves to complete the look.
Liza Koshy
Koshy debuted at the Met Gala in 2018 in an Alessandra Rich sheer black dress and wore a Balmain by Olivier Rousteing outfit while hosting for the 2019 Camp: Notes on Fashion theme.
Also read:
Why does the Met Gala theme make the internet crazy?
How “mystery guest” Mona Patel became one of Met Gala 2024's best-dressed
As we approach the Met Gala, here are the historic exhibitions featuring Indian craftsmanship
Ahead of the Met Gala, a look back at the most over-the-top couture fits in street style
