The designer Guarav Gupta had a tall order envisioning the Bollywood actress Kiara Advani’s Met Gala gown.
Reached Monday in New Delhi, where he was trying unsuccessfully to get some sleep before the Met Gala’s arrivals in Manhattan, the designer said he and Advani became friends about 10 or 15 years ago. This is their first major red carpet collaboration. Since they first connected at a wedding, her acting career has boomed and she has amassed 36 million Instagram followers. And Gupta’s company is now in its 20th year thanks in part to celebrity clients like Priyanka Chopra, Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion. Advani needed no introduction to his designs, though, since she had already worn some for weddings and key appearances.
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The fact that Advani is five months pregnant was the starting point for her Met Gala design, and she and Gupta were “clear about wanting to show off her baby bump,” he said. Speculating that the 33-year-old actress will be among the few high-profile guests who are not only of Indian descent but also pregnant, the designer said that created a pretty unusual scenario for him as a designer.
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He also drew upon the Black dandyism theme of “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Gupta said, “I’ve also always been in love with André Leon Talley, and his magnanimity, style, grace and love that just comes through his pictures and interviews. That just envelops fashion in so many ways.”
Advani will wear a cape that was inspired by the one that Talley wore to the 2010 Met Gala with her Gupta gown. A month in the making, the dress would cost between $30,000 and $40,000, the designer said. But the dress is a loaner for Advani, who will be returning it for Gupta’s archives. He created a design with metal-casting, a technique that has been used for other notables like Shakira. More than anything the designer wanted to highlight how dandyism was once used by traditional Black dandies as a portal that opened up the world of fashion, culture and individuality. “It was a revolution, going against all the norms and opening gates for the next generations,” Gupta said.
He combined that concept with motherhood, and the idea that “everything we do passes on to the next generation, including our good actions,” Gupta said.
The dress is called “Bravehearts” as a nod to the heroism of the original Black dandies. Advani’s dress has a large gold metallic heart on the chest with what looks like an umbilical cord attached to a small gold heart on the black stretch fabric on her stomach.
“She’s such a big star in this country, but she’s so approachable and humble that she’s almost like a girl-next-door,” he said. “Through this process we’ve become special friends.”