Cannes 2025: Alia Bhatt Wore A Gucci Lehenga And Called It A Saree

It is so stupid that I can't even be angry in peace. So, I'll just call this mislabeling "frivolous irritation".

Indianwear has been having its moment internationally for a couple of years now. With all the attention that Indian fashion designers like Sabyasachi, Gaurav Gupta and Rahul Mishra have been garnering globally, terms like dupattas, sarees and lehengas are slowly becoming commonly understood words amongst the non-desi crowd. And yet…

For the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival 2025, popular Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt wore a silver mesh deep-neck blouse with a figure-hugging skirt (both with nude colored lining) and a long mesh dupatta. The outfit was drenched with Swarovski crystals stitched all over.

When interviewed on the red carpet, she said that the ensemble was Italian luxury fashion house, Gucci’s interpretation of a saree.

Umm, what?

I’m not blaming Bhatt for anything. I’m assuming that she didn’t have much control over the designing process of the outfit because if she would have, the “saree” would have resembled an actual saree and not a literal lehenga. But this white gaze over desi fashion is really irritating. Its like the fashion house doesn’t even care to know the difference between a lehenga and a saree. And sadly, our colonial hangover is such that it is making us overlook this indifference and hungrily lap up the “representation of a saree from a big fashion house”.

This faulty representation is not a travesty (obviously), but it is definitely very irritating. We, i.e., Indians should have better standards and at least demand basic respect from international designers for our traditional attires. Just call the outfit what it is. Don’t make one thing and label it as something else. Surely that’s not asking for too much?

Anyway, Alia looked good enough in the lehenga. I’m personally not a big fan of mesh with nude lining, but it’s not that bad. She looked perfectly lovely.