May 04, 2026 6:00pm IST
Designers Tarun Tahiliani, Amit Agarwal and Pallavi Mohan on iconic Met Gala looks
The Met Gala, New York’s most glamorous annual fund-raising event, falls on May 4. This year the theme centers around ‘Costume Art,’ with the world’s most stylish people congregating here in their most innovative ‘Fashion is Art’ attire. Ahead of this momentous social gathering, Variety India reached out to India’s A-list designers to decode their all-time favorite looks, the most stylish personality and who they would like to dress!
Tarun Tahiliani
1. What has been your all-time favorite Met Gala look?
I watch the Met Gala every year, and most of it blurs together - beautiful, technically extraordinary, but fleeting. The looks that truly stay are rare. Zendaya made an impact. She opened and closed the red carpet in two completely distinct yet fully resolved looks; she showed a profound understanding of the grammar of clothing. It wasn’t an ornament; it was communication. Philosophy made tactile, emotion made wearable. She carried an entire literary world on her shoulders and made it feel effortless. That kind of dressing moves me. It’s what I chase every time I create.
2. One celebrity you would like to nominate from India for the gala?
Deepika Padukone. Always Deepika, and I'll tell you it isn't merely the architecture of her presence and the extraordinary grace with which she occupies a room. It's something far more intrinsic than all of that. She possesses this rare, luminous stillness. She and what she wears arrive as a single, complete thought utterly resolved; nothing-left-dangling creation. Most people, even the most celebrated, most beautiful people in the world, either dissolve into their clothing or overwhelm it entirely. She does neither. She holds a conversation with it. An equal, unhurried, deeply intelligent conversation. I find that endlessly compelling witness.
3. Does India needs a Met Gala of its own?
Yes. But please, not an imitation. That would be the gravest disservice we could render to ourselves and to everything we carry. What I feel is something that could have germinated nowhere else on this earth. Something that places our karigars - the chikankari masters of Lucknow, the silk weavers of Varanasi, the zardozi craftsmen whose lineages stretch back centuries at the very luminous center of the celebration. These hands, these people, are the true custodians of luxury. They have always been. We have simply not always possessed the confidence to declare that with sufficient conviction to the world. Build it from our spirituality, our philosophy, our extraordinary textile traditions, our ancient and still-living culture of adornment and celebration. People will travel across continents. Not to measure it against anything else. But because nothing remotely like it exists anywhere else. I believe that with complete certainty. We have always been ready.
4. Name a person you would like to dress for Met Gala?
If I were to choose one, it would be someone who carries both intellect and instinct in equal measure. Someone who doesn’t just wear a garment, but converses with it, like Tilda Swinton. There is an otherworldliness to her - an androgynous purity that resists time, trend and expectation. With her, clothing becomes almost metaphysical. One can strip away the obvious and arrive at something elemental: line, proportion, texture, silence. For the Met Gala, I would not dress her in excess. I would construct a presence, something sculptural, almost monastic, yet deeply luxurious in its restraint. Textiles that whisper rather than shout, craftsmanship that reveals itself only upon intimacy. Because with someone like her, fashion need not declare. It simply exists and, in that existence, it transforms.
5. Who did it better at the Met: SRK or Diljit?
At the Met Gala, both made strong but different statements. Shah Rukh Khan embodied timeless, understated elegance, refined and classic. Diljit Dosanjh leaned into bold cultural expression - vibrant and distinctive. So, it isn’t about ‘better’ - SRK was sophistication; Diljit was storytelling. Both worked in their own language.
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1. What has been your all-time favorite Met Gala look?
Two of my most memorable Met looks are Zendaya in John Galliano for Maison Margiela Artisanal (2024) and Tyla in Balmain (2024). Both moments go beyond visual impact; they reflect a thoughtful engagement with the theme, where fashion becomes a medium for narrative and concept.
2. One celebrity you would like to nominate from India for the gala?
Rekha stands out as a true personality from India, someone who has consistently defined style as an extension of identity. For me, the Met is not just about dressing up, but about engaging with a larger cultural narrative, something Rekha has embodied throughout her journey. She approaches fashion with thought and intent, interpreting each theme with depth while remaining unmistakably herself. There is a quiet consistency in her visual language, where tradition, memory, and individuality come together seamlessly.
3. Does India needs a Met Gala of its own?
I believe India already is a deeply rooted culture of celebration, craft, and storytelling that rivals any global platform. The opportunity lies in creating a moment that is inherently our own, one that meaningfully showcases the depth of Indian textiles, innovation, and artistic expression. If approached with authenticity and intent, such a platform could be incredibly powerful as a thoughtful dialogue between fashion, culture and identity. The focus, to me, should always remain on narrative alone.
4. Name a person you would like to dress for Met Gala?
I gravitate toward someone who treats style as a language of self-expression. An individual with a clear, distinctive point of view is unafraid to challenge conventions. There is a quiet confidence in embracing the unexpected, in experimenting with form, texture and narrative while remaining deeply authentic. For me, true style resides in this balance of conviction and curiosity.
5. Who did it better at the Met: SRK or Diljit?
I believe both approached the Met with a clear understanding of its intent, each interpreting it through their own distinct lens. One leaned into a more classic, composed expression, while the other embraced a bolder, royal look. It’s important how thoughtfully one engages with the theme and brings authenticity to it. In that sense, both were dressed in a way that felt true to who they are, and that, to me, is what holds value.
1. What has been your all-time favorite Met Gala look?
One of my all-time favourites has to be Rihanna in her yellow Guo Pei couture. It was not just a look; it was a moment — deeply rooted in craft, scale and storytelling, which is what fashion should ultimately be about.
2. One celebrity you would like to nominate from India for the gala?
Without a doubt, Priyanka Chopra. She is truly iconic—fearless, versatile and constantly evolving. What sets her apart is her ability to embrace individuality while owning every look with confidence. She represents India on a global stage with such strength and distinction.
3. Does India needs a Met Gala of its own?
India already has a deeply rooted culture of celebration, craftsmanship and couture. While the Met Gala is a unique global platform, our vision has always been to organically bring Indian textiles, heritage and artistry to the forefront—both within the country and internationally. The aim is not to replicate, but to elevate our own narrative.
4. Name a person you would like to dress for Met Gala?
I would love to dress Rekhaji She has maintained such a distinctive and personal style over decades. The way she has championed Indian textiles and traditional aesthetics is unparalleled. Dressing her would be about celebrating timeless elegance and cultural continuity.
5. Who did it better at the Met: SRK or Diljit?
It’s honestly a very difficult choice between Shah Rukh Khan and Diljit Dosanjh—both represented India beautifully on such a prestigious platform and elevated their fashion to another level. However, I would lean toward Diljit. Coming from a different industry, he has carried his identity with such authenticity. The way he brought Punjabi aesthetics to an international stage was seamless and truly impeccable.
1. What has been your all-time favorite Met Gala look?
I don’t believe in ‘best’ — I believe in ‘haunting’. The one that still sits with me is Rihanna in Guo Pei, 2015. That yellow cape. It wasn’t fashion, it was folklore. Heavy enough to break you, light enough to make you believe in fairytales. That tension — between weight and whisper — is what I chase in my own work. The Met should feel like a dream you’re not sure you had. She wore that.
2. One celebrity you would like to nominate from India for the gala?
Rekha ji. Without hesitation. She is couture before couture knew us. Her Kanjeevarams are not outfits; they’re heirlooms in motion. The jewelry, the kohl, the way she holds silence — that’s drama without noise. India doesn’t need to nominate anyone else. We’ve had our Met moment for 40 years. We just called her Rekha.
3. Does India needs a Met Gala of its own?
Deepika. She has that Parisian bone structure I dream in — strong, sculpted, but soft at the edges. I’d drape her in an ivory tulle from my Paris Collection. Feather-light, barely there, with 3D organza florals climbing the bodice like a memory. No hard corsets. No armor. Just a woman, walking like a poem. Let the photographers chase her, not the dress.
4. Name a person you would like to dress for Met Gala?
India doesn’t need to imitate. We’d rather exaggerate.
We don’t do themes — we do moods. Layers. Chaos. Beauty.
Banaras, Chanderi, Kanjeevaram aren’t references. They’re protagonists.
So, no, we don’t need a Met Gala.
We need handmade-meeting- hallucination.
Less ‘In America’. More ‘From India… but make it unreal.’
5. Who did it better at the Met: SRK or Diljit?
You’re asking me to pick between two kinds of power — and I won’t. SRK wore the classic Met language: tuxedo, diamond, silence, command. He’s an eternal hero. Diljit wore his language: Punjabi a turban, emerald, and unapologetic. He didn’t borrow Met’s grammar. He wrote his own. So if you ask me ‘better’ — I’ll say Diljit. Because the Met isn’t about fitting in. It’s about arriving so fully as yourself that the carpet tilts. He didn’t attend the Met. The Met attended to him.
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