Gauravi Kumari, Padmanabh Singh's royal Met Gala debut was about heritage and craft

The Jaipur royalty, Princess Gauravi Kumari and Sawai Padmanabh Singh, Pacho, made their Met Gala debut this season, and let’s just say, in the most royal fashion. Of course, their first Met Gala look leaned towards royal elements but nothing about it was excess (as you would think: heavy jewels, OTT clothes). No theatrics, no excess. Just two sharply considered ideas, rooted in memory and place, brought to life by Prabal Gurung.

As Vogue India reported, Gauravi’s starting point for her look was deeply personal, almost intimate. She turned to her grandmother, Maharani Gayatri Devi, a woman whose chiffon sarees and strands of pearls still define a certain kind of Indian elegance. But instead of simply referencing that image, Gauravi did something far more deliberate. The gown doesn’t just echo Gayatri Devi’s wardrobe; it incorporates it.

“It was important that my grandmother’s sari was not just a source of inspiration, but physically incorporated into the garment,” she told Vogue India.

She wore a pink saree, the colour was also a nod to the city she hails from, Jaipur. It was styled with pearls, rubies and uncut diamonds.

Standing beside her, Pacho takes a different route, but lands at a similar place. If Gauravi looks inward, he looks outward—towards craft, region, and form.

His starting point is the Phulghar coat, a piece developed with Gurung and realised in Jaipur by artisans Yash and Ashima Tholia and their team. The coat, deep velvet, quilted with cotton, took over 600 hours of work. The coat is replete with aari, zardozi, dabka, resham work. And how can you even miss out own the jewels that adorned his neck?

Pacho took his classic bearded look to the Met carpet and slayed.

Gauravi Kumari and Sawai Padmanabh Singh didn’t just wear high-fashion clothes to the Met Gala. They carried context with them, family, craft, history, and let it unfold without forcing the narrative.