Paris loves its greige uniforms and fashion that whispers like a trust fund secret. Kartik Kumra showed up with a rug, a riot of embroidery, and a collection that basically yelled, what if joy was a dress code? His Spring/Summer 2026 show wasn’t trying to blend in, it wanted to stain your retinas and maybe make you feel something. How To Make In India didn’t just show clothes. It showed teeth.

Paris slotted the collection into a mid‑afternoon window at the Union de la Jeunesse Internationale, a former bargain department store now recast as a cultural hub. The symbolism was sharp: India’s first official menswear entrant pitching up in a temple to democratic shopping.

The clothes hit like fireworks. Bullion‑embroidered jackets read like relief sculptures. Kantha‑patched shirting clashed with mirror‑flecked trousers. Hand‑dyed cottons came in Holi‑level hues. Kumra even widened the invite list, sending a beefed‑up womenswear offer down the same carpet to prove the brand’s universe is growing fast.

Feet weren’t spared. Limited‑run Converse Chuck 70s smothered in zardozi florals underlined Kumra’s point that Indian craft belongs everywhere, sneaker soles included.

The show notes simply read “How To Make In India.” Instead of letting the West cherry‑pick motifs, Kumra pushed India to the centre and pumped the volume. More than sixty artisan clusters contributed, every stitch arguing that heritage can speak louder than any logo if you let it.

Four years ago, Kumra was flipping Yeezys to bankroll samples. Now his racks hang at Dover Street Market and Selfridges. Paris felt like graduation: the day a cult kantha‑jacket project announced itself as a house.

The industry has already taken notice. Paul Mescal packed Kartik Research trousers for his Gladiator II press tour. Damson Idris has been photographed in embroidery‑rich jackets. Even NBA icon Stephen Curry owns a navy kantha shirt jacket. When red‑carpet regulars and sports royalty are wearing a label launched from a student dorm room, you know the noise is only getting louder.

While fashion obsesses over stealth wealth, Kartik Research shouts joy, memory and human hands. Paris can keep whispering; Kumra has shown exactly what happens when you crank the dial past ten.

Image credits - @kartikresearch/instagram.com @nowfashion/instagram.com