Last Looks: Alia Bhatt

This is the first time

that we're doing a live collaboration.

I have to tell you that she actually designed her outfit.

Please! You did!

[Alia laughing]

[lo-fi music]

When it comes to an outfit or a garment,

there's nothing more endless and timeless like a sari.

When we think about time,

there's so many different ways to think about it.

We did a lot of research

on archival portraits of Parsi nobility,

beautiful Indians wearing delicate pastel saris,

and I think what Sabya did for us

is he contemporized that sari.

So we have additional drapes, we have beautiful fringing.

And I think to actually move forward,

you cannot look into the past,

and I think that's what we've done

to create our Garden of Time.

Somebody asked me recently, And who's doing glam?

Like, Who's doing makeup?

I was like, Who else?

It's not even a question.

Alia I've worked with for almost nine years now.

So we always discuss the look before we start,

and the theme of the Met Gala this time

is called Garden of Time.

There were a lot of old-world references

that were referred to.

Alia had a few references also which she shared,

and we combined elements from each reference.

What it came down to was to keep it looking very surreal

and also like she had been outdoors,

so we enhanced her natural freckles

and added a little bit more.

For the mouth also, we wanted the color

to be a lot more sumptuous and rose-like.

It's very important for all of us to feel excited

by everyone's contribution.

It's very collaborative.

There's no ego, basically.

We're always trying to find a nice balance

in everybody's work, so it compliments and not like.

[Puneet] And the goal is to just achieve.

Yeah.

So there was a time when Puneet knew me so well

that she would give me exactly what I needed for my birthday

and then my sister would be so jealous!

[Puneet] Yeah.

So I arrived at opening presents that Puneet has given me

and just Chaya making this long face.

[Puneet] Yeah, she used to get very upset.

She used to be like, [whines].

Starting from the theme, Garden of Time,

we wanted to kind of keep everything really timeless,

but at the same point of time,

I want to keep the hair kind of ethereal, old-world charm,

a lot of referencing from the Renaissance paintings,

the texture from there.

But we wanted to kind of make it look modern,

so we went for a very undone kind of texture,

which is not polished.

Then we had really liked this.

There was an incorporation of a braid around the hair

and I thought that was very beautiful.

I think Sabhya has an eye like no other.

He's a master at what he does

and I feel so lucky to work with him every time that I do.

If you feel your best, you look your best,

and I've always felt my best wearing Sabya's clothes.

I first met Alia in Mehboob studio.

I was very nervous because I was doing a shoot with her

and she was the big star and I'm very shy

and I don't work very well with people that I don't know.

So it was very comfortable.

We barely spoke.

[both laughing]

He said, I became a fashion designer by accident.

I really wanted to be an architect

Just because you're good at something

doesn't mean that you were meant to do it.

I want to do other things too.

I have discovered that I would be a wedding planner.

I love planning, I love plans.

I don't think there's any other country in the world

that has a most civilized and special

and evolved craft than India.

It's unique, it's dynamic,

yet it's very timeless and it's stood the test of time.

I remember the first time I wore a sari,

it was for Teacher's day.

I was in the ninth grade.

And as I reached my school, my pleats opened.

So I went into the bathroom

and then, you know, they were like,

[Alia speaks Hindi]

They were quickly putting my pleats back for me.

Bye!

See you later.

Come on in.

Sari draping 101.

[Alia] Come on.

[soft music playing]

Oh, hello!

You look amazing, Sabya.

[indistinct]

Ah, okay, sorry that part.

And you know the exhibit is further divided

into three parts.

So there's land where you see beautiful flowers

and butterflies, and then there's a sea and the sky.

So we fuse both those colors to create the base color

of the sari.

I love the three dimensional aspect of craft

and I love jewelry because it helps me tinker a lot.

I love mathematics, so it's great.

I'm great with geometry.

So I think jewelry and stones

and proportion comes naturally to me.

When Sabya showed me the jewelry that could be possible,

I said, you know, there's something about jewelry.

So I was like, you know, we should really make this

a jewelry story as much as possible

without it being overwhelming.

That's the beauty about the Met Gala

is that every year there's a theme to work towards.

And actually I find that that is a lot of fun.

So even if you are going more there,

it's because there is a theme

and there's a story behind the garment, right?

You just want everything to all come together

because the effort is so much.

So, you know, you want everything to land,

the story that you worked towards for the garment,

for the look.

And of course sometimes there are hits,

sometimes there are misses,

but nobody really wants a miss.

Everybody wants a hit.

So you always like waiting till the last moment.

I hope it's a hit and not a miss.

[upbeat music]