How Vintage Fashion Curators Bring Their Finds to Life With Intimate Salons and Pop-Ups

I met Vergara earlier in the spring, in a jewel box suite at The Fifth Avenue Hotel in Manhattan’s NoMad neighborhood—the space itself a cabinet of curiosities that reflects Vergara’s own warmth and self-assured eye. Alongside her own array of vintage tassel clutches, pillbox hats, and sterling silver fish brooches were collections from close collaborators who joined from around the world: There was Milan-based Silvia Dusci from jewelry label Le Sundial; Paris-based jewelry designer Olivia Ball, from Laoli; pajamas and socks from Rome loungewear label Schostal; and handcrafted ’50s-inspired blouses and jackets from Puerta Negra in Caracas, Venezuela.

Showing collectively brings about another form of community-building, as many of the women who take part in Le Pop Up don’t just return for multiple iterations, but lift each other up and grow together. That’s certainly been the case for Laoli founder Olivia Ball, whose handmade fine jewelry creations have been present at Vergara’s last two pop-ups, first in New York in March and then again in Paris last month.

“Mariana’s really talented in choosing the right designers to show and knowing where there’s a true story,” Ball says. Most inspiring for her has been seeing how Vergara juggles growing a viable online presence with selling unique, high-end pieces both in-person and via DM.

Visibility is another critical component for Vergara, who invites industry insiders—editors, creators, buyers—to attend her salon-like events. She found a kindred spirit in designer Julia Sloan, of the Mexico-based label Sloan, after meeting her in New York—they collaborated on a shell bag and belt over the summer, then held a small pop-up together in Ibiza at Casa Jondal mid-August.

Vergara’s popups build on the idea of a trunk show, where you can discover a new brand, meet designers and founders, and shop directly from them, whether then and there or later, over DM. (Laoli’s beaded pieces have been seen on fashion insiders like Leandra Medine and Ramya Giangola, Le Sundial’s on Lauren Santo Domingo.) Vergara also encourages participating designers to offer customization or pop-up exclusives as a way to both add intrigue and encourage more mindful consumption.

Merci, c’est vintage will return to New York City in early December with a holiday pop-up at The Invisible Collection, a design gallery-meets-townhouse that gestures toward a new chapter for Vergara as she deepens her connection to discovery, craftsmanship, and community.