‘Made in India, hand-painted in United States’: The story behind Met Gala 2023 carpet

"It was a proud moment for all of us, and it truly added to the glamour associated with the event," said Sivan Santhosh, co-founder, Neytt,Extraweave in an exclusive interaction with indianexpress.com

The red carpet appears before the start of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" exhibition (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Met Gala 2023 was all about glamorous looks, debut appearances, and some funny moments (yes, we are referring to the famous ‘cockroach’ moment). But while we may have missed out on some aspects of the much-awaited night, the one thing that remained common about all that happened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 2 and witnessed it all first-hand was the beautiful carpet that was laid down on the stairs for the attendees to walk on. As such, while we have decoded the standout fashion moments from the style fiesta, how could we not talk about the eye-catching carpet which was, after all, made in India?

Yes, you read that right! With sustainability at its core, Indian artisans created the white carpet with swirls of blue and red stripes which saw a number of celebrities walk on it, including debutante Alia Bhatt and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

Designed by Neytt.Extraweave, a Kerala-based brand founded by Sivan Santhosh and Nimisha Srinivas, the carpet — which measured around 6,960 sq metres — was manufactured with sisal fibre (taken from the Agave cactus). “For the mega event, we sourced the best quality sisal fibre, which is durable, specifically from Madagascar. The carpet was weaved using 120 cm of the raw material,” Sivan told indianexpress.com.

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However, this is not the first time their carpet was laid down on the Met steps, they designed one for last year’s event too.

The carpet was made using sisal fibre (Source: neytt.extraweave/Instagram Stories)

The carpet, which took between 60-70 days to make from scratch, was designed basis inputs shared by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who is being credited for this year’s decorations along with event planner Raul Àvila. “It was machine made in India, and hand-painted in the United States,” shared Sivan.

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A post shared by Neytt by Extraweave (@neytt.extraweave)

“It was a huge day for us, and for India. We are proud to showcase our beautiful sisal carpet, which was to the world through Met Gala 2023. Made out of 100 per cent sisal, woven in Alleppey and hand painted at the US. It was an amazing opportunity to share the stage with such talented designers and celebrities,” read an Instagram post on Extraweave, the company behind the manufacturing process.

Here’s the carpet which was 6,960 sq metres in length (Source: neytt.extraweave/Instagram Stories)

It was a momentous occasion for the Kerala-based manufacturers, who got to showcase their skills and craftsmanship to the world. “We were a little unsure of how the design would look when we got the first draft, but the way it was laid out — it was looking beautiful. It was a proud moment for all of us, and it truly added to the glamour associated with the event,” mentioned Sivan, whose brand was recommended to Met Gala organisers by a customer based in the United States.

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He also shared that he is looking forward to more such works.

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