Missing at the Met Gala 2024: escapism

The 2024 Met Gala—officially the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit—could be one for the history books. The annual fashion event, essentially a fancy dress competition for the super-rich that helps raise money for the Costume Institute, had the strongest representation of Indian designers so far.

While creations by couturiers Rahul Mishra, Gaurav Gupta and Tarun Tahiliani made their debut, Sabyasachi Mukherjee became the first Indian designer to walk the Met Gala red carpet. Each designer offered their take on the theme “The Garden of Time”. But did any of those creations, presented on 6 May in New York City, make one stand up and take notice? Not really.

Take Sabyasachi’s sari (or was it a sari-lehnga?), worn by actor Alia Bhatt. The mint-green sari had a long train, hand-embroidered with sequins and semi-precious stones and was fringed with glass beads. Her blouse was studded with emeralds, Basra pearls, tourmalines and sapphires. Some of those stones, along with diamonds, adorned her hair, all creations of Sabyasachi. Was it pretty? Yes. Was it imaginative—like the gold sari he did for the 2022 Met Gala? No.

His own appearance at the Gala was far more striking. The embroidered cotton duster coat and heavy jewellery brought the charm of royal India, while the cherry-coloured sunglasses added a touch of chic—a marriage he excels at.

Also read: Abraham & Thakore: The masters of minimalism

Gupta, whose “melting flower of time” gown in beige (a colour “reminiscent of a weathered flower”, the press note says) was worn by Mindy Kaling, is famed for his sculptural gowns that are confounding masterpieces (remember his creation for the Paris fashion week debut last year that looked like it was frozen while dancing in wind?). That same play of fantasy and reality needed a fresher perspective in his Met Gala gown.

Ditto for Hyderabad-based billionaire Sudha Reddy’s elaborate ivory silk gown, designed by Tarun Tahiliani. While the stunning 3D butterflies gave the outfit a featherlight feel, the overly generous use of embroidery on the corset (in the middle of it there was a hand-embroidered image of what looked like a female royal holding a red flower) as well as on the skirt and the cape made one yearn for more experimentation on silhouettes rather than going OTT on handwork.

Among all this, stylist Law Roach’s AFEW Rahul Mishra ensemble—all-ivory white double-breasted jacket embellished with Rousseau-esque vegetal forms with glimmering flared trousers—stood out. It was understated, stylish and reiterated the point that less can be more. (A sari-gown by Mishra was also supposed to be at the event, but its wearer, businessperson Isha Ambani, did not make an appearance for reasons not made public; she did, however, share photographs of herself in the heavily-embroidered dress on Instagram.)

The Met Gala show is about fashion, yes, but it is also about getting people to rethink fashion by giving space to ensembles that shock and wow you at the same time. Like Tyla’s Balmain sand dress or Mona Patel’s butterfly gown by Iris Van Herpen. It then becomes all the more important for Indian designers, who are still in the process of cementing their position in the global landscape, to experiment more, think beyond literal themes, and give the world what fashion stands for: pure escapism.

Also read: What sleeves say about fashion's past and present