A rainy New York day was the setting for one of the world’s most glamorous events. Twenty-four hours before the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual fundraiser for its Costume Institute, aka the Met Gala, we were with stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania as she readied actor Alia Bhatt for a pre-event photo shoot.
The moment when Bhatt showed up on the red carpet in her custom Sabyasachi sari was shared, reposted, and commented on for weeks, but behind it was months of prep. “The journey is marked by numerous video calls, endless sketching sessions, and a whirlwind of emotions—stress, elation, and everything in between. It’s a marathon of days and nights across different time zones,” says Adajania.
Even when you’re working with some of the biggest names in the business—make-up artist Puneet B Saini, hairstylist Amit Thakur, and of course, designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee—there are still plenty of surprises. Take the fact that Adajania was expecting two clients to arrive in Manhattan. A last-minute change in plans meant that entrepreneur Isha Ambani Piramal, who was to wear couturier Rahul Mishra, wasn’t able to make it on the day. So while you might plan everything in advance, “the real excitement builds towards the end, especially during that first fitting. It’s a lot of decisions—adding, subtracting, tweaking until it’s just right,” says Adajania. “Last-minute ideas, like adding the bow to the back of Alia’s blouse, can add that unexpected touch. As a matter of fact, last year, too, we created and added a bow just as she was about to walk!”
Watch the video below for more.
