How Rebellious Masculinity Inspired Karu Research S/S 24

There is no denying that the definition of masculinity has been influx over the last decade. With the rise of queer perspectives, questions around manhood and how it is represented have been a hot topic, particularly within the world of menswear. While it may feel like uber-contemporary discourse, throughout history, there have always been figures challenging how masculinity is defined. It’s the past that’s informing Karu Research’s future with creative director Kartik Kumra looking at two Indian men who embodied vastly different masculine ideals as the inspiration for his S/S 24 collection.

Dubbed ‘Reluctantly Fundamental’, the collection first looks at Yashwant Rao Holkar II who served as the Maharaja of Indore from 1926 until 1948. An eccentric through and through, the Maharaja’s power and privilege allowed him to break away from the societal constraints regarding masculine representation. Often flittering from Indore to Paris and London, the Maharaja was famed for merging Western tailoring with traditional Indian wardrobe staples. Known for his opulent lifestyle and rebellious spirit, the Maharaja was the perfect muse for Kartik.

'There's a lot more tailoring in the collection and there's footwear as well’, Kartik explains. 'The first thing we did was introduce silhouettes that incorporated Indian tailoring codes and Western tailoring codes and blended them together. For example, taking the collar from a sherwani and placing it on an asymmetric blazer made out of green kantha. Or taking our French terry fabric and cutting a kurta out of it, and cropping it with a drawstring at the waistband'.

On the other side of the spectrum, Kartik found inspiration in former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly after sourcing a 1999 jersey on eBay. A more traditional representation of hyper-masculine ideals, Ganguly is something of a national treasure after he scored 183 runs against Sri Lanka in the World Cup — the highest score by an Indian at the World Cup. This lead Kartik to create cricket inspired sneakers in collaboration with Stepney Workers Club.

'In the process of creating an Indian heritage brand, I think it's important to recontextualize the Indian menswear wardrobe so it incorporates more elements of where it is from. Some of the embroideries were taken from images of clothes I found on the once kings of the palace we rented. Adapting the silhouettes so that it reflects our referencing more accurately is important.'

While the inspirations this season are entirely new, for Kartik the core values of the brand are to produce collections that utilise Indian craftsmanship. 90% of the collection woven on handlooms, there was no electricity needed for the production of the fabric, and embroideries are continued to be done by hand. This season also introduced knitwear created by a women owned cooperative in the Kumaon region of the Himalayas. Only established in 2021, Karu Research is quickly setting the standard for thoughtful production practices.

Still, that doesn't mean expansion isn't something Kartik is actively pursuing. 'In terms of the production of the lookbook and film we went a lot bigger than we've done before'. This meant flying out to Dungarpur, Rajasthan for the ultimate regal backdrop. 'It's an 18th century palace with hand tiled walls and a distressed exterior. We still really hustled and were on a tight budget but I felt a difference in the buy-in from the team because of the scale of the undertaking relative to our previous shoots where we just rented an old house 20 minutes from our studio.'