Titled ‘Zindagi Chuno’ which translates to ‘Choose Life’, the FW23 Karu collection takes philosophical inspiration from the Trainspotting monologue. This was the first collection founder Kartik Karu showed after graduating from university in December 2022. Karu had organically gone from a side project to something that had absorbed Kartik’s college experience and now, the focus is on making it real, investing in something with staying power. Kartik wanted to create a wardrobe for the important occasions that young people living in Delhi face, it’s about capturing a sense of authenticity by engaging with the local community. It’s buying your first Bajaj scooter with your first paycheck, it’s playing in your Sunday cricket league, it’s losing your friends to arranged marriages, it’s the last flickering streetlight in Khan Market. It’s clothes that reflect both the vibrance and the realities of modern India. 90% of the fabrics in the collection do not require any electricity in the fabric production process as they have been loomed by hand. 80% of the collection has been naturally dyed. Sustainability is inbuilt into the craft-oriented processes used. The majority of the fabrics in the collection have also been created for Karu from scratch. Wool Silk Blends that have been crafted on 200-year-old looms in Kutch, Gujarat provide a wrinkled and lived in effect to the outerwear. This is the first time that Karu worked with Bandhani (a tie-dye process in the Western states) to provide a gradient effect to the handloom silks. The block printed silks are created with a technique developed by a partner artisan called diffusion printing, who trained his people for 10 years to get the recipes perfect, this level of dedication and expertise is what the brand tries to reflect in the garments. The FW23 collection offers a range of styles including light suiting, separates and knits.