Karan Johar made a stunning debut at the Met Gala, becoming the first Indian movie director to attend the event, showcasing a breathtaking Manish Malhotra ensemble that paid homage to the timeless artistry of Raja Ravi Varma.
Key Points
- Karan Johar became the first Indian film director to represent India at the Met Gala.
- His costume, designed by Manish Malhotra, drew its visual language from the iconic paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, interpreting his command of drape, light, and ornament.
- The garment featured classical Indian drapery, restructured with precision, and hand-painted gold detailing by traditional artisans, applied directly onto the fabric.
- The collaboration with Manish Malhotra was rooted in decades of shared creative history, allowing for an intuitive design process.
Karan Johar’s poetic costume, designed by Manish Malhotra, wowed everyone at the Met Gala in New York on Monday, May 4, 2026, evening.
“I am still reeling,” Karan tells Subhash K Jha, minutes after his appearance created a defining moment as the first Indian filmmaker to represent India at the fashion event.
A Tribute to Raja Ravi Varma
The ensemble draws its visual language directly from the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, interpreting the master’s iconic command of drape, light, and ornament through contemporary couture.
The silhouette is rooted in classical Indian drapery, restructured with a precision that allows fabric to move with the body without losing its sculptural authority.
The garment draws from some of Raja Ravi Varma’s most iconic works, including Hamsa Damayanti, Kadambari, Arjuna, Subhadra and There Comes Papa. Each painting selected not for spectacle, but for the quiet emotional truth it carries.
Artistry in Detail
What sets the look apart is its surface: Hand-painted detailing executed in gold by traditional artisans, applied directly onto the garment as a painter would work on canvas.
The strokes are deliberate, luminous, and irreducible bringing the intimacy of a Ravi Varma portrait into the architecture of a garment. The result is a piece that is neither costume nor conventional couture, but something in between: An image that carries history in its construction and lives differently once worn.
Karan knows he’s wearing a winner, and he posts a grateful message: ‘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… this time, not on canvas, but in motion. To representing India and our culture, our art and our storytelling on the global ‘steps’.
‘Thirty years of friendship and collaboration with Manish Malhotra and still creating firsts together — so grateful to you and your team for this core memory.’
Karan Johar’s Personal Connection
“I didn’t want to arrive here trying to explain India,” Karan tells us.
“I wanted to arrive feeling like myself and that automatically brings everything I come from with it. For me, it had to feel personal and the moment it felt personal, it became Indian because that’s where everything I know comes from.
“Every story I’ve told, every film I’ve made, every emotion I’ve tried to put on screen has come from this place. Raja Ravi Varma felt right because his work does something I’ve always tried to do in cinema.
“Ravi Varma painted feelings. The way a sari falls, the way a figure holds itself, the light on a face that is somehow both divine and completely human. I’;ve grown up with those images without always knowing it. They live in you before you can name them.
“This look is my way of wearing that inheritance and I think that’s the most honest thing I could have done for my first Met. To arrive not with a concept, but with a feeling I’ve carried my whole life and finally found the right form for.”
A Collaborative Vision
The look has been developed with stylist Eka Lakhani, in collaboration with Manish Malhotra.
Karan’s association with Manish Malhotra spans decades of cinema, where clothing has always played a role far beyond styling, shaping character, mood, and memory. That shared history allows for an ease in process, where ideas don’t need to be over-articulated to be understood.
Says Karan, “With Manish, there’s no translation needed. We have worked together for so long, there’s an instinct there. I knew if I was doing this, it had to be with him.”
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Photograph curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
