Sudha Reddy returned to the Met Gala on Monday in one of the evening’s most craft-intensive looks, wearing custom Manish Malhotra couture and a necklace valued at more than $15 million from her personal collection.
The Indian billionaire philanthropist and businesswoman arrived at the 2026 Met Gala in “The Tree of Life,” a custom creation by Malhotra styled by Mariel Haenn. The look drew from Kalamkari, the Indian textile tradition with a history that stretches back roughly 3,000 years, and connected the evening’s “Costume Art” theme to Hyderabad and Telangana, Reddy’s home region. The tradition is known for hand-painted natural dyes and intricate depictions of mythology, nature and cosmology, with the Tree of Life among its most enduring motifs.
Reddy’s gown started with a deep royal blue velvet corset, cut with a wide neckline and covered through the bodice in antique gold floral embroidery. Below the waist, the velvet fell close through the hips before opening into a long train. Gold vines, flowers and tree branches covered the back panel, building toward the large “Tree of Life” motif that filled the center of the train. Malhotra also folded in regional references including the Palapitta, or Indian Roller; Jammi Chettu; Tangedu; Kalpavriksha; Surya and Chandra. Peacock motifs appeared across the train, adding another layer of Indian iconography to the back view.
Malhotra’s atelier built the look over 3,459 hours with more than 90 artisans. The handwork moved between several Indian embroidery techniques, including zardozi, marodi and resham, with metalwork worked into the bodice, cape and train. Gold and ivory thread covered the royal blue velvet in botanical motifs, while red, blue and pale floral details ran across the sheer tulle cape. The cape was edged in wide gold trim, and the shoulders carried the heaviest sculptural detail, with brass, copper and silver elements worked into the upper back. At the center of the upper-back installation, the Kalpavriksha motif gave the sculpted metalwork its focal point.
Reddy’s jewelry pushed the scale even further. She wore a necklace from her personal collection valued at more than $15 million, with the “Queen of Merelani” — a 550-carat deep violet-blue tanzanite from Tanzania’s Merelani Hills — set as the pendant. Rose-cut diamonds in triangular and pear shapes surrounded the stone in floral clusters. The necklace had a Victorian-finished setting, keeping the high-jewelry story in the same antique register as the gold embroidery. She also wore a 23-carat yellow diamond ring and a 30-carat rose-cut polki diamond ring.
Book Cover with Tree, Birds, and Insects, c. 1700. This book cover decorated with opulent and fantastical flowering scenes on lacquer was made for a manuscript or album that has since been disseminated. Depictions of flowering vases are a known design from the Deccan, and the fertile trees are oftentimes interpreted as “Tree of Life” motifs. The unusually large scale of the birds and insects in the scene is characteristic of the whimsical creativity of artists from the Deccan region of India.
The Met/Public Domain
“Hyderabad is my foundation, and this ensemble is a translation of that cultural identity into a language that is both global and deeply personal,” Reddy said in a statement. “Indian craftsmanship isn’t a legacy confined to history but a living, breathing art form. It was vital to demonstrate that these ancient techniques possess the structural integrity and aesthetic power to lead the global fashion dialogue.”
For Malhotra, the piece placed Indian handcraft in the center of the Met Gala conversation rather than treating it as ornament. “Fashion, for me, has always been about the emotion behind the image,” Malhotra said in a statement. “With ‘The Tree of Life,’ we wanted to create something that carries memory and the soul of the craft.”
Reddy made her Met Gala debut in 2021 and returned again in 2024, building a red-carpet record centered on Indian couture and craftsmanship.
The 2026 Met Gala took place on Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This year’s exhibition, “Costume Art,” celebrated fashion as an art form, with a dress code of “Fashion Is Art.” The event featured Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos serving as honorary chairs. The annual benefit raises funds for the Met’s Costume Institute.
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