The Neighborhood: Less ‘flea,’ more fly

MANILA, Philippines - Scene: With “The Neighborhood: A Pop-Up Flea Market,” the Manila Pop-Up boys turned the Rockwell Tent into a market of hip — or a study in marketing hipness. Despite typhoon warnings, cool-hunting kids surged forth for an assemblage of small businesses selling goods that wouldn’t be amiss in Girls-era Brooklyn.

The presence of stalls hawking local craft beer, third-wave coffee, and heritage menswear were proof we’ve become more background-conscious than brand-conscious these days. Artists did tattoos, graffiti, and drawings on the spot while shop girls and boys took their small-batch booze or streetwear a little more seriously.

Despite the rain’s arrival at night, a young upper middle-class crowd continued to trickle in, persevering at the food trucks outside, and staying on to watch a spate of indie music acts. After all, where there’s a Williamsburg, there’s a way.

Sights: The cultural cross-pollination was evident. Sarah Gaugler would leave her tattoo stall to perform with her band Turbo Goth, while Ed Lim was the main man behind the Bronuts and Lost + Found stalls, the latter being Neighborhood’s most decked-out vendor, boasting badass motorbikes to complement its selection of Japanese selvedge jeans and English heritage shoes. Lost + Found had also gotten Yardstick Coffee’s Kevin Tang to serve artisanal coffee.

At the stall of craft beverage authority, The Curator, were Manila Pop-Up’s Mike Concepcion and Erwan Heussaff, Belle Daza, and Stephen Ku, who showed Spidey-like reflexes when he caught a bottle of tequila from crashing to the floor. Sarah Meier, who’d organized a similar event last year, was present to give support, as did Anne Curtis, who sat outside by the food stalls — a midpoint between her boyfriend Erwan’s event and his new Power Plant restaurant, Hatch-22.    

A nifty discovery was Team Manila’s futuristic DIY silkscreen machine, which allowed up to six people to crank out their own t-shirts. Also, the free mojitos at clothing stall Pormada made for a good incentive to shop.    

Sounds: DJs played ’90s R&B through the afternoon while The Provibers, Synima, Nouval, Yolanda Moon, Your Imaginary Friends, and Turbo Goth took the stage in the evening.

Heard from the Herd:

“We didn’t go to fashion school or anything like that but we’re about putting out what we believe is good for fashion.” — UNSCHLD’s Julo de Guzman  

“It’s passion. Everything in the store, we’ve been using for the past three-to-five years.” – Lost + Found’s Ed Lim

“I feel like the music [in Manila] is good right now, the art is good, the food — we’re getting so much inspiration from outside and really creating it, where it becomes Filipino in itself.” – Manila Pop-Up’s Dee Jae Paeste

“There’s nothing ‘flea’ about this ‘flea market,’ is there?” – Anonymous partygoer