Isha Ambani’s Met Gala 2026 look by Gaurav Gupta features a bodice set with over 200 diamonds

Designed by Gaurav Gupta, the gold-woven sari pairs Swadesh craft with pichwai motifs and jewelery drawn from Nita Ambani’s collection

For the Met Gala 2026,

Isha Ambani once again highlighted Indian design on fashion’s most celebrated stage. She wore a custom-made Gaurav Gupta sari woven with pure gold threads by master craftsmen at Swadesh, styled by Anaita Shroff Adajania.

It brings together historical references from ancient Indian frescos, with the sari border featuring hand-painted pichwai-inspired motifs. Earthy in tone, the painted surface is further enriched with hand embroidery, where techniques such as zardosi, aari work and relief embroidery come together. With over 50 artisans working on the sari, more than 1,200 hours were dedicated to creating this piece.

The bodice carries a concentrated section of the work, entirely ornamented with diamonds and detailed with metallic zardozi hand embroidery. Envisaged by Nita Ambani and created by Kantilal Chhotalal in close collaboration with Shroff Adajania, it began as a way to bring the family’s diamond archive into couture. Over two hundred old mine-cut diamonds are hand-sewn across the bodice using stones from Nita Ambani’s private collection.

Two graduated diamond necklaces, together over 250 carats, sit at the neck; The haathphools extend across the hands, while diamond waist belts trace the fall of the sari.

Isha Ambani made a stronger case for championing Indian fashion and art at the Met Gala 2026.

She attended the fashion world’s biggest night in a custom-made saree look by designer Gaurav Gupta, featuring hand-painted Pichwai-inspired motifs, and a sculptural cape, Gupta’s signature element.

The saree was woven with threads of pure gold by craftsmen from Swadesh, an artisan-only retail brand launched by Reliance Retail.

The blouse was also embedded with real diamonds. The back of the blouse was further enlivened with a rich piece of history, a dazzling sarpech once part of the Nizam’s jewelery collection.

“The blouse is full of my mother’s jewelery pieces,” Ambani said in an interview to Vogue on the red carpet.

“Over 1800 carats of diamonds, alongside emeralds, polki and kundan, are embedded into the garment (the blouse), transforming it into a living surface of inheritance and form,” designer Gaurav Gupta wrote in an Instagram post.

But that is not where the details of Ambani’s latest striking Met Gala look end. Along with her beautiful saree and jewels, she also carried a piece of art to the red carpet, a mango sculpture by Subodh Gupta in a crochet bag. The sculpture was not only a nod to India’s heritage but also a literal embodiment of art in hand, perfectly complementing this year’s ‘Fashion is Art’ theme.

Subodh Gupta is a renowned Indian contemporary artist known for transforming everyday items like utensils and food into striking large-scale artworks.

Adding more Indian touches to her Met Gala look, Ambani also embraced a gajra-inspired sculpture in her hair. The accessory was an artistic reinterpretation of the traditional mogra gajra, handmade using paper, copper and brass by Brooklyn-based artist Sourabh Gupta.

Isha Ambani set the India-forward tone early with her appearance in an exquisite bandage dress that quite literally mapped India at a pre-Met Gala bash in New York City on May 1. The dress was made using 26 different types of borders, each representing a distinct region and craft of India.

Over the last three years, Ambani has consistent worn Indian designers at the Met Gala. In 2024, she chose a floral gown by Rahul Mishra. Last year, she wore an androgynous ensemble by Anamika Khanna. And this year, she continued the streak in this regal Gaurav Gupta X Swadesh saree.

Isha Ambani has brought Indian craft to the steps of the Met, looking stunning in a custom Gaurav Gupta sari, reimagined as a living canvas merging “art, craft, and couture.” The design draws from India’s rich textile and artistic legacy, incorporating hand painted and embroidered elements with a sculptural drape to position the dressed body as an artistic medium in a contemporary context.

Custom woven with threads of pure gold by master artisans of Swadesh, the sari featured hand painted pichwai inspired motifs in soft gold and earthly tones. Talking to hosts Ashley Graham and Cara Delevigne, Ambani revealed that the sari is “20 years old” and for her as an Indian, it is the “ultimate symbol of fashion”.

Decoding the details

Designer Gaurav Gupta further revealed that at the center of the look is a jewelry-integrated blouse, “constructed with over 1,000 diamonds and precious stones totaling over 1,800 carats, including heirloom old mine diamonds, rare emeralds, and traditional polki and kundan elements” drawn from Nita Ambani’s personal collection. Developed by 40 artisans across India, the piece brings together historic and contemporary jewelery forms within a single construction.

Highlighting a legacy of Indian craftsmanship, the blouse also includes a historical Sarpech piece at the back, which was once part of Nizam’s collection. “It has something — a gift — from when my twins were born, and other things that are sentimental,” Isha added, continuing that her look, “As an Indian, was the ultimate form of art,” she told the hosts.

Styled by Anaita Shroff Adajania, the design draws from India’s textile and visual heritage, referencing early civilizational forms of draped garments and adornment, from the Indus Valley through to classical Indian painting traditions. Reflecting a continuity of over 5,000 years, the sari translates this legacy into a contemporary couture expression, approaching the garment as a complete work of art.

The blouse is paired with a luminous tissue saree, custom woven with gold by master craftsmen of the Swadesh collective. The sari is worn in its traditional form, retaining its full length and original drape.

Ambani’s look was completed with a jasmine inspired hair sculpture—an artistic reinterpretation of the traditional mogra gajra, handcrafted over 150 hours by Brooklyn-based artist Sourabh Gupta using paper, copper, and brass.

In a final gesture aligning with the evening’s theme, Ambani carried a Subodh Gupta mango sculpture, a symbolic nod to her heritage and a literal incarnation of art in hand.

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