- Neytt by Extraweave, a Kerala label, has made the Met Gala red carpet since 2022. This is its fourth time
- The carpet weave is tightened to prevent stiletto tripping and garment damage during the event
- Met Gala carpet setup is highly private with no phones allowed, handled by gala organisers’ own team
On the first Monday of May, the Met Gala is hosted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Touted as one of the biggest fashion nights of the year, the event raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and celebrates the opening of the Costume Institute's spring exhibition at the museum.
Over the years, celebrities, including Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Diljit Dosanjh, Alia Bhatt, and Kiara Advani, have represented India on the global platform and left spectators impressed. But quietly, an Indian brand has also been making the country proud by rolling out red carpets for fashion's biggest night.
Neytt by Extraweave is a Kerala‑based label founded in 2021 by Nimisha Srinivas and Sivan Santhosh. It has manufactured the red carpet for the gala in 2022, 2023, and 2025. The label is now set to roll out its creation for the 2026 Met Gala as well.
Indian Label To Roll The 2026 Met Gala Red Carpet
While the 2026 Met Gala will be hosted on May 4 at 5.30 pm (ET), the Metropolitan Museum of Art received a special delivery of 57 rolls of white carpet, with each piece measuring up to 100 feet. The fabric is stored securely until 3 am on the first Monday of May, when the pieces, hand-painted by artisans, are rolled out on the Fifth Avenue steps, transforming the space into a stage on which hundreds of A‑listers walk in their finest couture.
Sivan Santhosh, co‑owner of Neytt by Extraweave, is responsible for the 73,625‑square‑foot spread. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, the 35‑year‑old spoke about continuing the family legacy of weaving with his wife, Nimisha Srinivas. The first time the label manufactured the carpet, the duo did not know it was for the Met Gala.
"We started with the initial prototyping and development, but we didn't know who the client was," the businessman said, adding, "Only once the samples were approved, we were told who it was for, and we were ecstatic. But because we're from a small town, nobody knew what the scale of the Met Gala was, but only after it came out in the press, did people know that this was something very big."
Seeing their creation featured on global platforms, Santhosh and his team quickly understood the scale at which the annual gala is hosted. The brief they received was for a blank canvas that would later be painted by artists and be sturdy enough to withstand the spectacle of the big day.
"We make the weave tighter so that celebrities in stilettos don't trip and fall down, and that their garments don't get caught," Santhosh explained.
"Even a tiny blemish could be visible on a carpet like this, so we make sure everything is perfect," he added, mentioning that Neytt shared multiple prototypes and faced several rejections from the Met's design team until it got it right.
The interesting part? The gala organisers have their own team that rolls out the carpet. "No phones are allowed in the vicinity - it's very, very private," he added.
While the carpets are shipped in March, the Neytt team remains anxious. "We're on our toes all the time," he shared, adding, "And we always wait till the event is actually over to get the final feedback, so there's always some kind of pressure."
The Met Gala did not feature a red carpet when it first began in 1948. In 1995, Vogue editor‑in‑chief Anna Wintour took over, and in the mid‑2000s, red runners were laid across the steps before full‑fledged carpets became a defining element.
This year is also special for Neytt, as the brand recently inaugurated a flagship store in Delhi, designed like an art gallery.
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