As Sudha Reddy’s car pulled into Fifth Avenue outside the Met Museum for the 2021 Met Gala on September 13, the Hyderabad-based philanthropist and socialite found herself quietly chanting, “It’s showtime!” in excitement. As she steps onto the seemingly-endless red carpet that ascends to the doorway of the reputed institute, she is engulfed by the flashing lights of press photographers and a flurry of questions asking who she is wearing tonight.
Owing to the pandemic and no 2020 edition, this year’s Met Gala – formerly referred to as Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit – certainly felt different for everybody involved; from organiser Anna Wintour and therefore the designers, to the high-profile attendees and even the spectators watching the red carpet showcase reception . within the spirit of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Elections, the gala’s theme was ‘In America: A Lexicon of Fashion’. For Sudha, this theme meant “a celebration of the concept of independence. I’m all for empowerment and independence at a private and knowledgeable level, and that i feel independence is that the greatest gift one can give themselves,” she tells The Hindu after the event.
