Kartik Research
Overview
Kartik Research is a New Delhi fashion label founded by Kartik Kumra. He began the project in 2020 while studying economics at the University of Pennsylvania; the brand’s current official history dates its formal foundation to 2021. Originally called Karu Research, it developed from one-off kantha jackets and handworked shirts into an international business stocked by specialist and luxury retailers.
The label works with handloom weavers, dyers, block printers and embroiderers across India. Quilted jackets, relaxed tailoring, shirts, knitwear and trousers place kantha, chikankari, natural dyes and irregular woven surfaces inside a contemporary wardrobe. The mainline remains menswear-led, while the current direct retail offer also includes a growing selection of womenswear.
A trademark dispute led to the change from Karu Research to Kartik Research in December 2023. The new name preceded an official Paris menswear presentation in January 2024, a first runway that June and subsequent stores in New Delhi and New York. The company now combines international wholesale with direct retail while keeping textile development and artisan production in India.
Philosophy
Kumra treats research as the starting point of each collection. Indian musicians, political figures, architecture, craft uniforms and regional subcultures become prompts for textile and silhouette development. The references are translated into clothes for present-day use instead of reproduced as historical costume.
Hand production is structural to the label. Wovens are made on handlooms, dyes can be derived from plants and herbs, and embroidery retains visible variation from one garment to another. Kumra works through a dispersed network of specialist makers, allowing regional knowledge to determine surface, density and construction.
The resulting wardrobe balances ornament with ease. Embellished jackets and shirts are paired with roomy trousers, workwear, sportswear and straightforward knits, giving intensive craft a familiar scale. Kumra’s stated aim is to build a globally aspirational South Asian cultural reference whose authorship and production remain rooted in India.
Recent events
Disclaimer
Creative timeline
Button TextKartik Research returned to the LVMH Prize semifinals in 2026. The second selection followed the company’s Paris runway development, New York store opening and expansion into a broader menswear and womenswear retail offer.
Kartik Kumra was named to TIME100 Next in September 2025. Asma Khan’s profile highlighted his use of kantha and chikankari within contemporary clothing and recognised the broader cultural visibility of his New Delhi practice.
Kartik Research opened its first international permanent store at 61 Orchard Street in New York on 19 April 2025. The Lower East Side location extended the company’s earlier pop-up activity into a direct retail base for its largest overseas market.
Kartik Research opened a New Delhi retail space in Greater Kailash II in 2024 and introduced Research Research, a graphic streetwear sub-line sold alongside the main collection and a selection of independent labels. The store shortened the distance between the company and its domestic audience.
The company changed its public name from Karu Research to Kartik Research in December 2023 after a trademark dispute. The product and ownership remained continuous, while the new identity was introduced internationally ahead of the brand’s first official Paris menswear presentation.
Karu Research reached the semifinals of the 2023 LVMH Prize. The recognition brought Kumra’s craft-led menswear into a wider international designer field and preceded the label’s official Paris calendar application.
Kartik Kumra began Karu Research in 2020 while studying at the University of Pennsylvania, using proceeds from sneaker resale to develop one-off kantha jackets and relationships with textile makers in India. The current official brand history dates formal establishment to 2021; Kumra remains founder and creative director.
Kartik Research divisions and related structures
The company combines its craft-led seasonal mainline with a smaller graphic and streetwear programme.
Clothing lines
- Mainline
- menswear-led ready-to-wear
- The seasonal collection develops handwoven shirts, embroidered jackets, relaxed tailoring, knitwear and quilted outerwear through Indian textile and craft networks. The current retail offer also includes womenswear.
- Research Research
- graphic streetwear
- Introduced with the New Delhi retail project in 2024, the sub-line gives printed jersey and casual pieces a more immediate format alongside the labour-intensive mainline.
Kartik Research collaborations
Collaborations place the label’s textile development inside established footwear and outerwear structures.
Footwear and outerwear
- Baracuta
- outerwear capsule, 2024
- The six-piece project reworked the G9 and G4 jackets alongside a shirt, hoodie and trousers through handloom checks, quilting, embroidery and other Indian surface techniques.
- Converse
- Chuck 70 project, 2025
- Hand-finished Chuck 70s first appeared with the Spring/Summer 2025 collection and later formed a limited Dover Street Market release, with each pair individually customised.
