Charles & Keith is a Singapore handbag and shoe brand, founded in 1996 by the brothers Charles and Keith Wong, whose first store opened at Amara Shopping Centre. The brand says today that it is fully owned by the Wong family. It is private, has no ticker and publishes no revenue.
In India the brand is run by someone else’s company. The Indian website’s terms name a Mumbai company from Dubai-based Apparel Group, incorporated in February 2026, and on Myntra the same company sold all 40 listings read on 21 September 2026. Not one of 100 listings read that day was reduced.
Charles & Keith is Singaporean by origin and family-owned, and in India it is operated by an Apparel Group company, not by a subsidiary of its own. On Myntra on 21 September 2026, 35 of 40 listings declared Singapore as origin, and all 100 listings read sold at full MRP, with a median of ₹9,999.
Snapshot
- Founded
- 1996, Singapore, by Charles and Keith Wong; first store at Amara Shopping Centre
- Owner
- The brand says the group is “fully owned by the Wong family”; private, no ticker, no published revenue
- Past investor
- L Capital Asia, a minority stake taken in 2011; the brand calls it “a minority stake”
- Company named on charleskeith.in
- Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands Private Limited, with Charleskeith.com Pte. Ltd, in the site’s Terms of Use
- That company on the register
- Incorporated 28 February 2026, Mumbai; registration number 468980; ₹3 crore paid up (register mirrors)
- Stores in India
- 24 listed on Apparel Group India’s brand page, read 21 September 2026
- Seller of record on Myntra
- Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands Pvt Ltd on 40 of 40 listings, 21 September 2026
- Declared origin
- Singapore 35, China 5, of the same 40
- Median price paid in India
- ₹9,999 against a median MRP of ₹9,999, 100 listings, 21 September 2026
Who owns Charles & Keith
The brand’s own profile page is direct about it. The group is “fully owned by the Wong family and has an established retail presence of nearly 700 stores in over 30 countries”. It publishes no annual report and no revenue figure, because it is a private company with nothing to file on an exchange.
One outside investor appears in the brand’s history. The group’s milestones page says that in 2011 “L Capital Asia invested in the CHARLES & KEITH brand”. The brand profile is more precise: “L Capital Asia LLC, a private equity firm linked to LVMH, was invited to take a minority stake in CHARLES & KEITH group.”
That was a minority stake, in the brand’s own words, not ownership or control. L Capital Asia later became part of L Catterton, formed when LVMH, Catterton and Groupe Arnault combined their funds, so the 2011 investor is often called by the later name. Inside Retail Asia and Forbes both put the stake at 20%. Neither the brand nor the investor states the size.
Forbes Singapore’s rich-list profile, dated 4 September 2024, says “The brothers subsequently repurchased this stake”. It gives no date for the buyback, and no dated document for it was found. L Catterton’s own investments page lists Charles & Keith among its historical investments, again with no exit date.
The same Forbes profile names three siblings, Charles, Keith and Kelvin Wong, as the owners and operators, with a net worth of US$1.2 billion in 2024. That is Forbes’ estimate, not a figure from any filing. In July 2022 Bloomberg reported that the group was “exploring the sale of roughly a 20% stake” that could value it at “more than US$2 billion”. No completed sale was found in any document read.
- 1996Founded in Singapore by Charles and Keith Wong
- 2011L Capital Asia takes a minority stake
- 2023charleskeith.in launched, 24 April, per Elle India
- 2024Delhi High Court cancels a “C&K” mask registration, 1 August
- 2026Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands incorporated, 28 February
Separate events on one timeline; the stake’s buyback carries no published date.
Dates from the group’s milestones page, the brand profile, Elle India, Indian Kanoon and a register mirror.
Who sells Charles & Keith in India
The brand describes its overseas model in one sentence on its Indian site: “Our international operations are conducted predominantly through authorised franchisees”. No document read uses the word franchise about India specifically, and no agreement is published. What the Indian site does publish is the name of the business behind it.
The site’s Terms of Use say it is operated by “Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands Private Limited and Charleskeith.com Pte. Ltd”, collectively, with Indian law governing and exclusive jurisdiction in Mumbai. The privacy policy names the same Indian company, and the contact page reads “CHARLES & KEITH (Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands Private Limited)”. The site’s terms name the operator; they set out no licence, term or exclusivity.
Three addresses appear for that company. The Terms of Use give 907 B Wing, Mittal Commercia, Andheri East, Mumbai 400059. The privacy policy and contact page give Raiaskaran Tech Park, Marol, Mumbai 400072. The register mirror gives a registered office in Kandivali West, Mumbai 400067. None of the three site pages shows a CIN, GSTIN or named grievance officer.
Apparel Group India’s own site lists Charles & Keith in its footwear portfolio, and InFashionBusiness reported in June 2026 that “In India, the brand is operated by Apparel Group India, part of the Dubai-based Apparel Group.” The same group’s company runs Aldo’s Indian website too, and sold ALDO on Myntra as seller of record on 30 of 40 listings read on 21 September 2026.
Other foreign brands leave a different paper trail. On the Skechers audit, a listed reseller’s own exchange filing matches the marketplace reading. Hush Puppies on Myntra was sold mostly by Bata India, on 23 of 40 listings read on 21 September 2026. Charles & Keith has a named operator and a matching seller, but no filing from either side describing the terms.
The companies behind the name
| Company | What the register mirrors carry | Link to Charles & Keith |
|---|---|---|
| Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands Pvt Ltd | Incorporated 28 February 2026, registration number 468980; ₹3 crore paid up; directors Neeraj Teckchandani and Tushar Kumar Naval Ved | Named in the Indian site’s terms; seller of record on 40 of 40 Myntra listings |
| Apparel Group India Pvt Ltd, formerly Major Brands (India) Pvt Ltd | CIN U18101MH2001PTC131895, incorporated 8 May 2001; same two directors and a third | Lists the brand on its own site; not named on the Indian site’s terms |
| Any company named Charles & Keith | A mirror search for “CHARLES KEITH” showed 0 records; the same search for “APPAREL GROUP” showed 9 | None exists on the Indian register |
The 2026 company’s CIN carries the letters PTC, an ordinary private company, not FTC, the register’s marker for a subsidiary of a foreign company. Its shareholders were not shown on any mirror, so this page does not say who owns it. Two mirrors give it different activity codes, retail trade and garment manufacture, over the same registration number.
The company was incorporated in 2026, so it has filed no accounts yet. Whether Apparel Group India ran the brand here before February 2026, and whether the business moved between the two companies, is not established by any document read. Nor is the year Charles & Keith first came to India.
Stores
Apparel Group India’s brand page listed 24 Indian stores on 21 September 2026. Elle India reported 24 stores in 10 cities in August 2023, and Indian Retailer called the Pune Phoenix Mall of the Millennium store “the brand’s 26th store in India” in April 2024. The figures come from different dates and different publishers, and the brand’s own store locator publishes no total.
Where Charles & Keith sold in India is made
The group publishes a Supplier Code of Conduct and a “Manufacturing World Map” image, but its ethical supply chain page names no countries in text, gives no factory count and does not say whether it owns any factories. The Singapore and Indian product pages read print no country of origin.
The Indian declarations do. On 40 Myntra listings read on 21 September 2026, 35 declared Singapore as the country of origin and 5 declared China. The manufacturer line on all 40 read Charles & Keith International Pte Ltd, 6 Tai Seng Link, Singapore, the group’s trade-mark and litigation company.
A Legal Metrology declaration, the statutory block every packaged product sold in India must carry, names who is legally answerable for the goods. It does not necessarily name the factory. So the declarations tell a reader that the group’s Singapore company is answerable for the goods, and that most are declared Singaporean, but not where each bag was stitched.
On the same shelf that day, Aldo declared India on 31 of 40 listings, although the same Apparel Group company sold most of both.
What Charles & Keith costs in India
The brand facet on Myntra reads CHARLES & KEITH and carried 676 listings on 21 September 2026. Across 100 distinct listings the median MRP was ₹9,999 and the median price paid was also ₹9,999, which is 100% of MRP. None of the 100 was reduced, across 20 distinct MRPs.
The shelf is mostly bags. Handbags made up 51 of the 100 and wallets 27, with flats 12 and heels 8. The same reading gave Columbia 2,433 listings that day, the check that the method works. Of the eight other brands sounded that day, Columbia reduced 20 of 100 listings and the other seven between 72 and 100.
Nike sold at 90.7% of MRP on 20 September 2026 and reduced 36 of 100 listings. Charles & Keith reduced none.
| Style code | Product | Material, as stated | Singapore site | Indian site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CK2-30782934 | Ginevra Tote Bag, black | Wrinkled PU | S$89.90 | ₹13,499 |
| CK2-90840669 | Delfina Quilted Chain-Strap Shoulder Bag | Wrinkled PU | S$89.90 | ₹14,999 |
| CK2-30271702 | Mini Delfina Belted Tote Bag | Wrinkled PU | S$89.90 | ₹13,499 |
| SL2-40782941 | Leather Top-Flap Hobo Bag | Natural Calf Leather | S$149.00 | ₹18,999 |
Prices from charleskeith.com/sg and charleskeith.in, the same style codes, checked on 21 September 2026. Indian pages add an “-IN” suffix to the code.
The codes match across both sites, so these are the same bags. Three of them carry the same Singapore price, S$89.90, and two different Indian prices, ₹13,499 and ₹14,999. The Indian pages say “Includes taxes and shipping” and “All orders are currently shipped out from India”; the Singapore pages read do not say whether their prices include GST.
Because the Singapore tax treatment is not stated, no exchange rate is applied here and no gap is computed. The prices are printed as each site showed them. A reader can convert them at the day’s rate, bearing in mind that the Indian figure includes tax and the Singapore figure may not.
Three bags priced at S$89.90 in Singapore carry two different Indian prices, and not one of 100 Indian listings read was on sale.
What the product claims stand on
Charles & Keith makes few technical claims, and the ones read carry no numbers. Most of the range is plainly labelled as synthetic.
| Claim | Where | Figure published | Standard or certifier named |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Wrinkled PU” exterior | Product pages, Singapore and India | None | None |
| “Natural Calf Leather” | The hobo bag’s product page | None | None |
| Works “closely with” the FSC, the Leather Working Group and Textile Exchange | Brand profile | No rating, no share of leather | Named as partners, not as certifiers of a product |
| “Responsible Collection”, “recycled polyester, recycled leather & more” | Singapore collection page | No percentage | None |
The word “vegan” did not appear as a claim on any product or policy page read; the products say PU, the plain name for polyurethane-coated synthetic. The leather product page states no tannage and no Leather Working Group rating. No waterproofing claim appeared on the pages read.
Authenticity and authorised sellers
The Indian site’s FAQ lists the brand’s official partner websites as Tmall, Locondo, Dukanee, John Lewis, ASOS.com, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. It adds that the brand “does not offer merchandise for sale through individuals, unauthorised retail locations, internet auctions, online forums, social media platforms and any other online retailers besides those mentioned above”.
No Indian marketplace appears on that list. On Myntra, the seller of record on all 40 listings read was the company the Indian site’s own terms name as operator. Both facts are printed as they read on 21 September 2026.
On Myntra every listing read was sold by Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands. If a Charles & Keith listing names any other seller, that is the company answerable for your return; read the seller line before you pay.
The one decided Indian matter
The one decided Indian court matter found under the brand’s name was brought by the brand. On 1 August 2024 the Delhi High Court, Mini Pushkarna J, ordered the cancellation of a “C&K” registration in class 9, held by an individual respondent for breathing masks and dust masks. The petitioner was Charles And Keith International Pte Ltd.
The case was not tested on the merits. No reply was filed, and the respondent’s counsel said he had “no objection if the registration … is cancelled” and that his client “is not in the business of breathing masks”. The order rests on that concession, not on any finding about the respondent’s conduct or about the brand’s reputation. No costs or damages were awarded.
The ruling decided one registration as it then stood. It is not a general ruling on the “C&K” letters, and nobody has ruled on any other mark or seller.
Who Charles & Keith is actually for
Charles & Keith in India suits a buyer who wants a Singapore-made synthetic bag from the operator’s own shops or site and is content to pay the tag. It suits less well anyone who expects a sale: the reading found none, and a Singapore price of S$89.90 became ₹13,499 or ₹14,999 on the Indian site.
Read the material line
Most bags read say “Wrinkled PU”, a synthetic. Leather pieces say “Natural Calf Leather” on the page and cost more.
Check the seller of record
Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands sold all 40 Myntra listings read. That is the company your invoice and return run through.
Turn the box over
Thirty-five of 40 listings read declared Singapore and five China. The origin is printed on the box as well as the listing.
Compare the style code
The code on the Indian site matches the Singapore one, plus “-IN”. Look it up on both sites before you pay.
Common questions
Is Charles & Keith an Indian brand?
No. It was founded in Singapore in 1996 by Charles and Keith Wong, and the brand says it is fully owned by the Wong family. In India it is operated by an Apparel Group company named in the Indian site’s terms.
Does LVMH own Charles & Keith?
No. L Capital Asia, a private equity firm linked to LVMH, took a minority stake in 2011. Forbes says the brothers later bought it back, without giving a date, and the brand now calls itself fully owned by the Wong family.
Who sells Charles & Keith in India?
The Terms of Use on charleskeith.in name Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands Private Limited with Charleskeith.com Pte. Ltd. On Myntra on 21 September 2026, the same Indian company was seller of record on all 40 listings read.
Where are Charles & Keith bags sold in India made?
Of 40 Myntra listings read on 21 September 2026, 35 declared Singapore and 5 China, with the group’s Singapore company on every manufacturer line.
Is Charles & Keith ever on sale in India?
Not in the reading taken. On 21 September 2026 none of 100 Myntra listings was reduced, and the median price paid was ₹9,999, equal to the median MRP.
References
- Charles & Keith Group, Our milestones — founding in 1996 by Charles and Keith Wong, the Amara Shopping Centre store, the 2011 L Capital Asia investment
- Charles & Keith, Brand profile and its Indian mirror — the minority stake wording, “fully owned by the Wong family”, nearly 700 stores in over 30 countries, the FSC, LWG and Textile Exchange partners
- LVMH, Catterton and Groupe Arnault joint release — the formation of L Catterton
- Inside Retail Asia, 1 August 2022 — the 20% stake size
- Forbes, Singapore’s 50 Richest profile, 4 September 2024 — the 20% stake, the repurchase, the three siblings, the net worth estimate
- L Catterton, Investments — Charles & Keith among historical investments
- Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, 29 July 2022 — the reported stake-sale exploration
- charleskeith.in, Terms of Use — the operating companies, the Mittal Commercia address, governing law and jurisdiction
- charleskeith.in, Privacy Policy and Contact page — the company name and the Raiaskaran Tech Park address
- charleskeith.in, Franchising opportunities — the “authorised franchisees” sentence
- charleskeith.in, FAQ: products and pricing — the list of official partner websites and the authorised-seller statement
- Apparel Group India, Charles & Keith brand page — the brand in the footwear portfolio, 24 Indian stores, read 21 September 2026
- InFashionBusiness, 3 June 2026 — the brand operated in India by Apparel Group India
- Elle India, 24 August 2023 — the 24 April 2023 site launch, 24 stores in 10 cities
- Indian Retailer, 10 April 2024 — the Pune store as the 26th in India
- IndiaFilings mirror and ZaubaCorp mirror, Apparel Group Global Fashion Brands Private Limited — incorporation, registration number, the two activity codes, paid-up capital, Kandivali office, directors
- ZaubaCorp mirror, Apparel Group India Private Limited — CIN, incorporation, former names, directors
- ZaubaCorp search, “CHARLES KEITH” and “APPAREL GROUP” — 0 and 9 records, 21 September 2026
- Charles & Keith Group, Ethical supply chain — the Supplier Code of Conduct and the manufacturing map
- Myntra, brand facet CHARLES & KEITH, read 21 September 2026 — 676 listings, the 100-listing sounding, 40 declarations, seller of record, origin and manufacturer lines, the Columbia control and the comparison brands; Nike and ALDO readings of 20 and 21 September 2026
- Product pages on charleskeith.com/sg and charleskeith.in for CK2-30782934 (India), CK2-90840669 (India), CK2-30271702 (India) and SL2-40782941 (India) — prices, materials, tax and shipping wording, checked 21 September 2026
- Charles & Keith Singapore, Responsible Collection — the recycled-materials description
- Charles And Keith International Pte Ltd v Ambud Sharma & Anr, C.O. (COMM.IPD-TM) 322/2023, Delhi High Court, 1 August 2024 — the cancellation, the absence of a reply, counsel’s concession, no costs
What is good about Charles & Keith in India is that the chain is short and readable. The brand’s own Indian site names its operator, Myntra shows that same company selling every listing read, and 35 of 40 declarations name Singapore with the group’s own company answerable. The labels are plain, too: synthetic bags say PU.
What deserves scepticism is the price. None of 100 listings was reduced, and three bags that share one Singapore price of S$89.90 carry two Indian prices, ₹13,499 and ₹14,999. The brand’s ethical claims name partners but publish no rating or percentage, and nothing published sets out what Apparel Group holds from the brand.
Buy Charles & Keith in India as a mostly Singapore-made bag sold at full MRP, median ₹9,999, after checking the same code’s Singapore price, and do not count on a sale.
