Conquer the Weekend with Weekend Cartel: Meet the Designer
Weekend Cartel is the latest new menswear brand to drop at Glue Store, offering classic pieces in elevated fabrics and colours. Senior Menswear Designer and king of the weekend, Karl Candido, joins Glue to talk about the newest Weekend Cartel collection, what he loves about designing, and how to style key pieces.
GLUE: What inspired the latest collection? Are there any pop culture touchstones that have informed this collection?
KARL: The debut Weekend Cartel collection is retrospective on leisurewear and heavily inspired by vintage streetwear. Every piece is truly unique and has a high level of detail and finishings. Within each drop we aim to have a wide scope of pieces – mainly to cater for any style due to the resurgence of bold personal style lead by the influence of TikTok within both leisurewear and streetwear.
GLUE: What is the story behind the brand name?
KARL: It was first concepted a year ago during a lockdown where we wanted to create a brand whose ethos was centered around wearing your finest fits for the weekend ahead. We wanted to keep it playful enough but also effortlessly cool and ambiguous that the guys who have the eye for detail and want to take risks with their style.
GLUE: What does Weekend Cartel offer that other lifestyle brands don’t?
KARL: One of our cornerstones for the brand is offering completely unique designed pieces. Within the range is pieces made from custom woven fabrics for exclusive wardrobe highlight pieces. The level of detail of each piece has been highly considered.
GLUE: What are the most timeless pieces that a guy can own from your current collection that will serve them season after season?
KARL: I think the best timeless piece is the ‘Chaos Straight Jean’ in ‘Arctic Blue’. There was a lot of R&D that was put into our denim washes inspired by vintage and thrifted denim to get every wash just right. It would have to be the best vintage wash on a timeless straight leg five pocket jean.
GLUE: There are some nice pastel pinks and purple in this collection. Why and how should men incorporate softer colours into their wardrobes?
KARL: I think the individual who wears any Weekend Cartel piece isn’t afraid of colour or how to wear it – they pick and mix which piece sits back with their favourite vintage carpenter baggy pants or sweater. However, you can’t go wrong with pairing any highlight piece with a classic pair of baggy jeans or white tee.
GLUE: What is your favourite thing about designing in general?
KARL: My absolute favourite part is when the first prototype samples arrive from recently designed pieces because there is no better feeling of them coming to life from paper. I would also have to include seeing anything you’ve designed being worn in public for you to see what product they love but also how they wear and style it.
