Karan Johar thrilled the Met Gala 2026 red carpet in a Manish Malhotra masterpiece that transformed Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings into couture. Honoring the Costume Art Theme, Johar showcased a black ensemble with artisans’ hand-painting gold detailing directly onto fabric, turning it into a living canvas.
He celebrated Varma’s works, Hamsa Damayanti. Kadambari, Arjuna and Subhadra, and There Comes Papa, while embodying his cinematic ethos. “I wanted to arrive feeling like myself, and that automatically brings everything I come from with it,” Johar said, linking Varma’s emotional brushstrokes to his own storytelling.
He described the look as an inheritance worn with honesty: ‘Ravi Varma painted feelings, the fall of a sari, the divine yet human face. This look is my way of carrying that legacy.’
Johar collaborated instinctively with Malhotra, noting, “We’ve worked together so long that no translation is needed.”
His debut amplifies India’s presence at the Met Gala, with Ananya Birla, Princess Gauravi Kumari, Sawai Padmanabh Singh, Sudha Reddy, and Malhotra himself joining the celebration.
Johar transformed heritage into art, cinema into couture, and emotion into statement.
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