Kartik Research, the New Delhi-based menswear brand founded by Kartik Kumra, has postponed its upcoming Paris Fashion Week runway show following the death of 26-year-old Divyanshu Joshi, an employee of the brand, on May 28.
runway show, which was scheduled Official Paris Men’s Program Will be postponed to June 25, a spokesperson for the brand confirmed gq Today. The new date has not been announced.
Joshi, who managed Karthik Research’s Delhi retail store for two years, was also a model, often appearing in photo shoots for the brand. According to a report by an Indian fashion news outlet voice of fashion, The Times of IndiaAnd Hindustan TimesHe died by drowning in an abandoned stone mine in the southern Indian state of Kerala. According to the latter two outlets, the mine had been inactive for more than 20 years and was off limits to the public. The brand spokesperson confirmed that Joshi had participated in a seasonal shoot for Karthik at a local theater in Kochi city earlier that day; Later, the Karthik team including he and Kumra traveled to North Kochi to locate another location where Joshi reportedly died while swimming in the mine’s lake. The investigation into the case is ongoing and the local police have not yet released the official postmortem report.
Brand confirmed Joshi’s death 31 may instagram post It described him as a “dear colleague and friend”. The post also claimed that “incorrect details of this tragedy continue to circulate online”, adding, “We would like to clarify that Divyanshu was in Kerala as part of a seasonal photo shoot and was not participating in any swimming-related activities as part of the production. Some public reports have misrepresented the circumstances of the incident.” The brand spokesperson said that Joshi’s swimming had no connection with the shooting or location scouting. Comments on this post have been locked.
Karthik Research has become one of the busiest menswear exporters from India in recent years. Kumra – who started the project from his university dorm room in 2021 when he was 20 – has been named as an LVMH Prize semi-finalist twice, in 2023 and 2026, and opened a successful flagship store in Downtown New York last year. In January, Mayor Zohran Mamdani wore a Kartik Research tie during his inauguration in New York City.
