Cruel World began in 2018 as an online passion project and creative outlet and has since taken many shapes as a showroom in Philadelphia from 2019 to 2022, and a long term brick and mortar pop up shop in East Hollywood in spring 2023. Cruel World centers queer and trans people in vintage, and developed in response to owner-operator Caro not seeing himself represented in fashion, as a queer and gender non-conforming young person. With Cruel World, Caro seeks to create space for gender expansiveness and accessibility in vintage-- visitors can access an array of inventory with expansive sizes, from affordably priced staples to rare and high end vintage pieces. Cruel World blends influences from Caro’s roots in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. Cruel World curation is heavily influenced by 90’s punk and hardcore; 70s and 80s gay subculture, especially leather communities; and early 2000s pop-culture. For appointment scheduling email caro@shopcruelworld.com

“I started Cruel World as a response to not seeing enough space for my own queerness in retail, including in the vintage stores I worked at as a buyer through my 20s. I was having lifelong negative shopping experiences in part because of how little space was left for queerness, and at the same time seeing the queer community commodified as a marketing ploy. I want to offer a space free from the pressure of having to pick one side of the store, or conform to an image sold to you by people who only care about profit. Cruel World is the way that I give myself, and share with others, the things I wanted in my youth that the world told me I couldn’t have.” Caro, Owner & Operator