The Met Gala 2023 had Indians turning their heads. While Alia Bhatt marked her debut in white dress decked with pearls, the veterans like Pee Cee and Natasha Poonawalla also did not disappoint (well that’s open to debate, but you know what we mean).
However, there was one more thing with Indian roots that wasn’t talked about as much. That is the Met Gala Carpet. The stunning beige-toned carpet with swirls of red and blue was woven by artisans from Kerala. Neytt by Extraweave specialises in high-fashion rugs. Spearheaded by Sivan Santhosh and Nimisha Srinivas, this luxury design house is based in Alappuzha. It took the local artisans almost 60 days to create the carpet.
Take a look at the carpet here.
Speaking to Vogue India, Neytt revealed that they collaborated with Fibre Works based in the United States. The brief was to create the rug using Sisal – a fibre that is derived from the Agave plant that is found in Brazil and East Africa. They added, “Fiber Works connected us with the Met Gala team, and we worked closely with them. We were asked to make 58 rolls, 30 m by 4 m which is 6950 sq. metres. It took us 60 days to make the 2023 Met Gala carpet. And finally, we sent it to New York for designing.”
In a conversation with The Indian Express, Sivan Santhosh added that the carpet was designed based on the inputs they received from Tadao Ando, a Japanese architect who was also responsible for the decor. He said, “It was machine-made in India, and hand-painted in the United States.”
Neytt had laid down their carpet on the steps of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2022 as well.
We can only hope that the brand gets to lay down their carpet this year as well. We are here for desis leading the global fashion discourse.
