“WHEN WE SPOKE in February last year, the brand was in its first season. We have expanded with such speed since then,” says Kartik Kumra, swivelling in the same chair in his makeshift office-cum-bedroom as months before. Just over a year since he launched his label Karu Research in the middle of the pandemic, Kumra’s quilted jackets and ephemera—which began retailing at eight stores, including Mr Porter—can be found at an impressive 22 stores worldwide. And now, the founder of pandemic-born label Karu Research is fresh off his first showcase at Paris Menswear Fashion Week, which took place in January this year. Traditionally, designers have been known to protect the sanctity of their art as opposed to responding to the market, but for Kumra, charting the growth curve was all about learning to gauge supply and demand. Kumra’s first time seeing shoppers interact with his artisanal quilted jackets and upcycled jacquard trousers at a pop-up in New York in 2022 was an eye-opener. “I watched people try on my clothes and hold them up to their chest to see how things look, or hear what they think about it. It really helped to receive that feedback,” Kumra says.
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Denne historien er fra March - April 2023-utgaven av VOGUE India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Breathe In, Breathe Out
A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork
Red Pill, Blue Pill
India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum
Sign of the times
No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily
Return to form
Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports
Dimple, All Day
YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone
Let it grow
When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.
Beauty and the feast
The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.
Sweet serendipity
From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.
