Carlton London is a footwear and accessories brand sold across India through its own online store, Myntra, Amazon and its own outlets, with women’s shoes typically landing between ₹750 and ₹1,500 once the standing discount is applied. It presents itself as British. The company that runs it in India is registered in Gurgaon. The truth sits somewhere between those two statements, and a 2025 Delhi High Court judgment is what finally makes it legible.
Less British than it sounds. The company that sells you the shoes is Carlton Overseas Private Limited, incorporated in Gurgaon on 19 April 1993 and registered as a footwear manufacturer. A UK-headquartered Carlton Shoes Ltd does sit in the Indian trademark record, having used the CARLTON mark here since 1991. But when it won at the Delhi High Court in July 2025, it won on its Indian trading history, not on being British.
Snapshot
- Founded
- Contested. The brand markets itself as “A complete British lifestyle brand since 1992”. Court records show CARLTON in use for footwear in India from 1991. Carlton Overseas Pvt Ltd was incorporated on 19 April 1993
- Founder
- Not publicly disclosed. Current directors of Carlton Overseas Pvt Ltd are Alex Panangat Kunjachan, Jay Jit Virk, Baljinder Singh and Baljit Virk
- Headquarters
- Registered office at Khasara No. 29 Silokhra, Gurgaon, Haryana 122001
- Current owner
- Carlton Overseas Private Limited, an active Indian private limited company. A separate UK-headquartered entity, Carlton Shoes Ltd, appears in the Indian trademark record
- Category
- Footwear, handbags and accessories, women-led
- Price band in India
- Mid-range. Catalogue MRPs run to about ₹5,999, but women’s footwear MRPs of ₹1,499 to ₹2,199 sell at ₹749 to ₹1,319, so most transactions land near ₹1,000
- Available in India
- Official — carltonlondon.co.in, own outlets, Myntra and Amazon
How it started
This is the section where most articles about Carlton London go wrong, because they repeat the brand’s own line and stop there.
Start with what the brand says about itself. Its Indian store describes it as “A complete British lifestyle brand since 1992”, with a mission to “make British Fashion accessible & inspiring around the world”. Its terms of service go further and are unusually candid: “‘Carlton London’ is a brand of Carlton Overseas Pvt. Ltd”, followed immediately by “it is a UK brand bringing in the latest fashion from the high streets of London”. The same page then sends any dispute to “the competent courts of New Delhi, India”.
Now the company records. Carlton Overseas Private Limited was incorporated on 19 April 1993 and is an active private limited company registered in Haryana, with its registered office in Gurgaon and footwear manufacturing as its stated activity.
And now the trademark record, which is where a genuine British thread appears. In litigation decided in 2025, Carlton Shoes Ltd — described in Indian legal reporting as a lifestyle brand headquartered in the United Kingdom — was found to have used the CARLTON mark in India for footwear since 1991, and to have registered it in Class 18 in 1994.
So there are several Carltons, and telling them apart is the whole exercise.
Laid out by date, the sequence explains why the “since 1992” line is doing more work than it should.
- 1991Carlton Shoes Ltd, headquartered in the UK, uses CARLTON for footwear in India
- 19 April 1993Carlton Overseas Private Limited is incorporated in Gurgaon
- 1994Carlton Shoes Ltd registers the mark in Class 18
- 2004VIP Industries buys Carlton International PLC’s rights and puts CARLTON on luggage
- 2 July 2025The Delhi High Court restrains VIP from using CARLTON for bags
The brand’s own “since 1992” falls between the first two entries, and nothing in the record marks it.
What they actually make
Women’s footwear is the core: slides, flats, block heels, sandals and boots, alongside handbags and accessories, with a smaller men’s range. The design language is high-street European rather than Indian, which is the point of the positioning.
Carlton Overseas Private Limited’s registered business activity is footwear manufacturing, so this is a manufacturer running a brand rather than a pure importer badging someone else’s product. That matters for pricing, and the next section explains why.
What is not documented anywhere public is the design and production split — how much is designed in the UK, if any, and how much is made in India. The brand does not say, and no filing sets it out. Treat any confident claim you read about “designed in London, made in India” as unsourced, because it is.
What Carlton London costs in India
Carlton London’s Indian pricing has one dominant feature, and it is not the rupee figure. It is the gap between the MRP and what anything actually sells for.
| Product | MRP | Selling price |
|---|---|---|
| Three-strap platform comfort slides | ₹1,499 | ₹749 |
| Bow detail comfort slide sandals | ₹1,699 | ₹849 |
| FlyKnit thong comfort sandal | ₹1,999 | ₹1,099 |
| Textured knit comfort ballet flats | ₹2,199 | ₹1,319 |
Prices checked on carltonlondon.co.in in August 2026. Every item in that sample carried a discount between 41% and 51%, and the store runs a standing “upto 60% off” collection. When a whole catalogue is permanently marked down by roughly half, the MRP is not a price that anyone pays. It is a reference number chosen to make the selling price look like a saving.
This is legal and extremely common in Indian footwear, but it is worth naming, because it changes how you should shop. Ignore the discount percentage entirely. Compare the selling price against what a comparable pair costs from an Indian maker at the same money, and judge on materials and construction rather than on how big the crossed-out number is.
There is no import duty story here, which is the useful part. Because Carlton Overseas manufactures in India, its shoes do not carry the customs duty that inflates genuinely imported footwear. You are paying Indian manufacturing economics for a brand marketed on British design — which, at ₹750 to ₹1,300 a pair, is a reasonable trade.
Who Carlton London is actually for
Carlton London suits a buyer who wants European-looking women’s footwear — clean block heels, slides, ballet flats — at a genuinely low price, and who is not paying for the heritage story. At around ₹1,000 a pair the design is the product, and the design is decent.
It works for office wear, occasion wear bought for a season, and anyone replacing footwear often enough that longevity is not the deciding factor.
Skip it if you want leather that lasts years. At this price after discount, materials are what you would expect, and nothing about the brand’s British positioning changes the construction. Skip it too if the Britishness is why you are buying — the company selling to you is registered in Gurgaon, and you can buy the same look from Indian brands that do not charge you a story. And if you are buying luggage or bags expecting the British Carlton, read the next section first.
Reputation and controversies
Carlton London has no consumer-facing scandal on record as of August 2026 — no regulatory action, product recall, advertising adjudication or pattern of consumer commission orders could be sourced.
The interesting material is the trademark litigation, and Carlton won it.
VIP Industries, the Indian luggage company, acquired Carlton International PLC’s trademark rights in 2004 and began using CARLTON on luggage. Carlton Shoes Ltd had been using the mark for footwear in India since 1991 and registered it in Class 18 in 1994. On 2 July 2025 a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul, upheld an injunction restraining VIP from using CARLTON for bags.
The reasoning is the part worth understanding, because it cuts against the brand’s own marketing.
The Division Bench held that goodwill attaches to the mark itself rather than to a category of goods, and that a passing-off claim needs goodwill established within India. Carlton Shoes Ltd had that goodwill, having traded here since 1991. VIP’s claim rested on rights it had bought from a British company in 2004.
A brand that sells itself on British origin prevailed in an Indian court on the strength of its Indian trading history, against a company whose claim rested on actual British ownership.
Buying it in India
Counterfeit risk is moderate. The designs are simple to copy and the price point is low enough that fakes are not especially profitable, but branded slides and sandals do appear on smaller marketplaces at prices below the official discounted rate.
Start with the brand’s own channels
Buy from carltonlondon.co.in, a Carlton London outlet, or the brand’s storefronts on Myntra and Amazon.
Read the seller name on marketplaces
On any marketplace, check the seller is the brand or an authorised seller rather than a third party.
Benchmark against the discounted price, not the MRP
Official prices already sit 40% to 50% under MRP. A listing far below the brand’s own selling price is the clearest signal of a “first copy”, the common Indian term for a counterfeit.
Do not confuse the shoes with the luggage
Carlton London footwear and Carlton luggage are different businesses with different owners. If you want the luggage brand, you are looking at a separate dispute history and a separate company.
Ignore any suggestion to buy it abroad
There is no case for it. The brand is manufactured and sold in India, and the Indian price after discount is as low as it goes.
Common questions
Is Carlton London a British brand?
Partly, and less than it suggests. Its Indian business is run by Carlton Overseas Private Limited, registered in Gurgaon since 19 April 1993. A UK-headquartered Carlton Shoes Ltd appears in the Indian trademark record, having used the mark here since 1991. The brand’s own terms of service call it “a brand of Carlton Overseas Pvt. Ltd” and “a UK brand” in consecutive sentences.
Who owns Carlton London in India?
Carlton Overseas Private Limited, an active Indian private limited company with its registered office in Gurgaon, Haryana. Its stated business is footwear manufacturing, and its current directors are Alex Panangat Kunjachan, Jay Jit Virk, Baljinder Singh and Baljit Virk.
Is Carlton London the same as Carlton luggage?
No. They are separate businesses. VIP Industries acquired Carlton International PLC’s rights in 2004 and used CARLTON on luggage, and in July 2025 the Delhi High Court restrained VIP from using the mark for bags, upholding Carlton Shoes Ltd’s prior use in India from 1991.
Why is Carlton London always on discount?
Because the MRP is set well above the intended selling price. Every item sampled in August 2026 carried 41% to 51% off, and the store runs a standing “upto 60% off” collection. Ignore the discount percentage and judge the selling price on its own.
Are Carlton London shoes good quality?
For roughly ₹750 to ₹1,300 a pair, they are reasonable — the design is the strength. They are not built to last several years, and the British positioning does not change the materials. Judge them against other Indian-made footwear at the same selling price, not against imported brands.
How we research and verify brand audits: our methodology.
References
- Carlton London, terms of service — “‘Carlton London’ is a brand of Carlton Overseas Pvt. Ltd”, “it is a UK brand bringing in the latest fashion from the high streets of London”, and jurisdiction in the competent courts of New Delhi
- The Company Check, Carlton Overseas Private Limited — incorporation on 19 April 1993, active private limited status, registered office at Khasara No. 29 Silokhra, Gurgaon, Haryana 122001, footwear manufacturing as the stated activity, and the four current directors
- Carlton London India, women’s footwear — the MRP and selling prices in the comparison table, checked August 2026, and the 41% to 51% discounts across the sample
- Carlton London India — “A complete British lifestyle brand since 1992” and the mission to make British fashion accessible around the world
- LiveLaw, 2 July 2025 — the Division Bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul restraining VIP from using CARLTON for bags, and the holding that goodwill attaches to the mark rather than to a category of goods
- King Stubb & Kasiva, case analysis — Carlton Shoes Ltd described as a lifestyle brand headquartered in the United Kingdom, its use of CARLTON for footwear in India since 1991, and VIP’s use on luggage from 2004
- Bar and Bench, 2 July 2025 — Carlton Shoes Ltd registering the mark in Class 18 in 1994, VIP acquiring Carlton International PLC’s rights in 2004, and the requirement that goodwill be established within India
Good-looking shoes at ₹1,000, sold with a heritage story that its own terms of service quietly contradict.
