By María José Durán 

Talmadge-based menswear brand pledges to clothe a homeless youth for every website purchase

More than 100 people attended the preview for the second collection of Krave and Kulture Jan. 16 at Hess Brewing Co. in North Park, and learned that the Talmadge-based brand chose a socially responsible, holistic and more ethical approach.

Down to the last paper, every material the startup company uses comes from the United States.

David Quintanilla, president and creative director at Krave and Kulture, said the company wanted more control over the manufacturing process. “We found out that a lot of the stuff that we were purchasing was made in Vietnam and it wasn’t ethically sourced,” he said. “We learned about things that we weren’t comfortable with attached to our brand.”

The manufacturing of the new Krave and Kulture menswear collection is now centralized in Los Angeles, according to Nabeel Ashraf, Quintanilla’s business partner, who overlooks the finances and logistics of the startup.

“We are trying to explore if we can produce here in San Diego. That would be a bit of a challenge but it would be a commitment to make our product as local as possible,” Ashraf said.

For every garment purchased on their website, Quintanilla and Ashram are committed to donating one shirt to clothe a homeless youth. “We are trying to think of ways that we can give back without it being something that didn’t mean anything to us,” Quintanilla said.

The donations will be shipped to different nonprofits around the country. “We decided not to tie our business to one specific organization for the donations,” Quintanilla said. 

The first collection of Krave and Kulture, launched a year ago, targeted gay men. The company’s new vision expanded the audience to include a more mainstream market.

“We had the opportunity to create something really cool and we thought that it was too narrow of a market,” Quintanilla said.

The new designs can be worn comfortably by men of any age. The drawings feature birds, famous people, catchy lines and Greek-looking marble heads.

Quintanilla defines his new line as “casual luxury.” The collection of stylish T-shirts and cardigans intends to be an upscale version of California casual wear.

“We wanted it to have the feel of easy casual wear, but an elevated version, something that you can wear to the bar, or to a date, or at the beach,” he said.

Charlie Harding is a regular costumer of the clothing brand. “I really like the new collection of Krave and Kulture,” he said. “It’s a lot more focused and it feels very San Diego to me.”

For the Krave and Kulture business partners, San Diego style is about easy clothes that feel good on your skin and also last a long time.

“In San Diego, our style is a little bit more relaxed. It’s about comfort, it’s about easy, before fashion,” Quintanilla said.

Each garment involves unique processes, including sublimation and screen printing. The fabrics are carefully chosen and cut for a high-quality result. This implies an upgrade from the startup’s first collection, which was printed on previously-made blank T-shirts.

“We are getting to design our shirts from scratch, we get the fabric, we have everything costume dyed, so all the way down to the stitch, we get to control the details,” Quintanilla said.

Another regular patron of the brand, Scotty Rage, appreciated the attention to detail. “It’s a little bit more luxurious, a little bit more high-fashion. The fabrics are more cohesive, they feel good and you can see yourself wearing them and being comfortable,” he said.

The company’s target audience are men between the ages of 30 and 40.

“The ideal person is somebody that likes good materials and nicer things but also has an easy lifestyle. He doesn’t have time to figure out what goes with what and wants to throw on something and feel good,” Quintanilla said.

The final design of Krave and Kulture’s new line is a mix between Quintanilla’s creative mind and a community effort. The drawings were analyzed by focus groups that chose the ones they liked better.

“In a way, it’s a crowd-sourced collection. It did not put up capital per se, but they did have an opportunity to review all of these designs. Our demographic had very direct input,” Ashar said.

The average price of a Krave and Kulture shirt is $65 and can be purchased through their website kraveandkulture.com.

—María José Durán is a freelance writer from San Diego. She can be reached at [email protected].