Cracked in math, Kartik Kumra studied economics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (United States), before returning to live in New Delhi (India), his hometown, to found, three years ago, her own fashion label, at just 21 years old. Called Kartik Research, this stylistic laboratory wants “first and foremost promote know-how” Indian, explains the self-taught man, who took a year to bring together a network of manufacturers across the subcontinent.
Wool woven on two-century-old looms, handmade bead embroidery, wood block printed linings, natural tree bark dyes… Its men’s collections highlight “the gesture above all”. For spring-summer 2024, one figure particularly inspired him: the Maharaja of Indore, Yeshwant Rao Holkar II (1908-1961).
“He was a socialite not particularly well known in India, says Kartik Kumra. What appealed to me about him were the unconventional confrontations between India and Europe that he initiated. His costumes could be made from local fabrics and he frequented the foreign intelligentsia, such as Man Ray, who photographed him. As for his palace, Manik Bagh [bâti en 1930], he brought together typically Indian porcelain, hunting daggers or velvet carpets printed with tigers, with Bauhaus furniture or Art Deco details. not to mention the works of Brancusi and the Puiforcat silverware.
It is this balance between East and West that inspires the paisley-printed velvet shirts or the quilted and indigo-printed workwear sets. But also this herringbone woven cotton suit, in sober black and with princely details: the pants, worn high, are accompanied by a tone-on-tone belt which highlights the waist, while the double-breasted jacket reveals a bright silk lapels.