Following its theme, The Garden of Time, the Met Gala 2024 has been a nature-inspired feast for the eyes, with celebrities transforming into ethereal, forest nymphs for the evening, or donning floral gowns on the red carpet. Alia Bhatt was no exception: the Bollywood actress made her return to the Met Gala red carpet in stunning form, wearing a sweeping sheer sari adorned with flowers.
Bhatt’s sari is a custom look by Indian designer Sabyasachi, who has previously dressed Bollywood stars like Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif. The couturier is known for his intricate and elaborate designs that blend traditional Indian craftsmanship with modernity, and the sari he created for Bhatt reflects his distinctive aesthetic.
Bhatt made quite the entrance with her sari, which stretched out across the Met Gala red carpet with its 23-foot-long train. Her ensemble featured even more extravagances, as it was lavishly embroidered with silk floss, beads, sequins and semi-precious stones. The sari also featured a fringe of glass beads that swayed and sparkled as Bhatt walked. The blouse, meanwhile, was a canvas for Sabyasachi’s beadwork, and was studded with emeralds, Basra pearls, tourmalines and sapphires.
All of these embellishments were added to the delicate, sheer fabric that Bhatt’s sari was cut from. The sari came in soft blue hues that pay “homage to nature’s beauty, echoing the earth, sky and sea,” shared Bhatt on Instagram. The resulting outfit is dreamy and romantic, and seems to resemble a famous Rococo-era painting of Marie Antoinette. But Bhatt revealed an entirely different inspiration for the sari, writing, “We looked to the past as a guide for the future, drawing inspiration from the timeless sophistication of Indian nobility.”
In a lot of ways, the sari is the perfect thing to wear to this year’s Met Gala, which was held in celebration of the Met’s exhibition, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. The exhibition reflects on nature, the passage of time, and the ephemerality of fashion. The sari, which often incorporates natural motifs, has been the Indian traditional dress for thousands of years. As Bhatt notes, “Nothing embodies tradition and innovation like the sari.”
With its couture-level craftsmanship, Bhatt’s Sabyasachi sari is also a work of art worthy of being displayed in a museum. The Bollywood star shared exactly how much went into the making of her Met Gala ensemble, saying, “Creating this has been quite an experience… fun and stressful in equal parts. It has taken a collective effort of 163 dedicated individuals, including master craftspeople, embroiderers, artists, and dyers, investing a total of 1,965-man hours to create this ethereal sari.”
To Bhatt, all those hours were meaningfully spent. Echoing the message of this year’s Met Gala, she adds, “Timelessness is endless, and we acknowledge that things crafted with time and care, can last forever.”
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