A Midtown Pop Up Boutique (Image by: David Alvarez)

A Pop Up Boutique drew several hundred visitors to their event during May’s Second Saturday. Luxe Hair Lounge + Day Spa gathered several designers to a showcase celebration at its Midtown location.

A Midtown Pop Up Boutique guests (Image by: David Alvarez)

POP Boutique celebrated a grand opening for Sacramento’s first Pop Up Boutique. Invited designers included Tiana Vega Collection, Love by Janelle Cardenas, Samuel Parkinson, Nelli Rosh, Maisha Bahati and Haute Baubles.

Musical guests drew many passer-bys to the event with live DJ music by Soul Puncherz. Once visitors were drawn in by the music they stayed to enjoy the designs of local talent.

Soul Puncherz (Image by: David Alvarez)

Luxe Salon & Spa also offered complementary consultations and provided delicious refreshments. The area around the solon was full of visitors and designers were on hand to answer questions about their particular fashion lines.

Nelli Rosh (left) with a glamorous design and model (Image by: David Alvarez)

At a point during the event I sat down with designer Nelli Rosh to ask her about the event and her collection.

Tell me a little about yourself.

Originally I’m from the Ukraine. I’ve been in America for six years and I opened my brand of clothing four years ago. My collection is an evening dress style. My line is more European in style as well. Tiana Vega invited me to tonight’s event.

Will you be in this year’s Designing Dreams?

I would like to be but I don’t know yet.

Have you created any new designs lately?

I do have a new collection and it will also be evening dress style with several beautiful gowns

How would you describe your designs here tonight?

I have dresses from two earlier collections from 2010 and 2011. Tonight I have 10 dresses and four suits.

Nelli Rosh collection (Image by: David Alvarez)

After the short interview Rosh showed me her evening’s collection.

Janelle Cardenas next to her designs (Image by: David Alvarez)

Another designer at the event was Janelle Cardenas whose designs can be seen at various events in Sacramento. Her Love by Janelle Cardenas collection continues to expand and her designs can be seen at her new website.

I conducted a short interview to ask Cardenas about her fashion line and the Pop Up event.

What have you been up to?

Well I just finished Sacramento Fashion Week in February. Since then I’ve been focusing on my clients, doing custom pieces and now I’ve actually started to design for fall, I’ve started some sketches. They should be released sometime around August.

Are you still finishing up your studies?

I just graduated two weeks ago and received a B.A. in Fashion Design and Merchandising from IADT.

Are you planning to stay in the area now that you’ve graduated?

I think so. I have a family here and that’s important to me.

How many kids do you have?

I have an 11 year old boy and I have a little girl that will be arriving in early October.

Congratulations! Do you have any shows coming up?

I have a show coming up with Juniper James. They’re doing a show in June to raise money for local foster care here in Sacramento.

Will you be involved with Designing Dreams this year?

I’m hoping so but I don’t know if they’ve decided on the designers yet.

A Midtown Pop Up Boutique with Janelle Cardenas (Image by: David Alvarez)

I also sat with Tiana Vega and her partner Dave Icarangal to talk about the evening’s event and things they may have in the near future.

Julia Maryanov, Tiana Vega, Dave Icarangal (Image by: David Alvarez)

What brought you guys together for tonight’s event?

Vega: The whole idea of doing the Pop Up Shop was Mila (Anatlychuk) and Tennison’s (Long) idea. They wanted to basically bring the solon and local designers together. I thought that was very generous of them to open up their space because a lot of us designers don’t have a place to sell clothes unless it’s already in a boutique. So it was a really cool idea of theirs to do the Pop Up show for one night only.

Icarangal: Hopefully the idea will also keep the designers who are showcasing right now to have their collections in the store for the next several weeks until the next Second Saturday event where we’ll rotate to new designers to showcase their clothing.

Do you think you’ll have a common webpage for something like this?

Icarangal: That’s a really good idea. I think for now we’re kind of testing the waters to see where this is going to go. It was awesome for the first trial. We had a lot of people come through; they’re still coming through so we're happy about that.

Are you planning on doing Designing Dreams this year?

Vega: We’re still trying to raise the money so we’re doing the sponsorships first. We have to make sure we can do the sponsorships and then as far as I can tell I think we’re going to do it for sure I prefer to keep it as an annual show.

How many outfits did you put together for tonight’s special collection?

Vega: The collections I brought for tonight are from my past collections and I ended up bringing 21 or 22 pieces.

Who is your model?

Vega: Our model is Julia Maryanov.

How did you guys get together?

Vega: We met so long ago. Julia has been working and modeling for us and she also networks for us. We’ve been working with her for almost three years.

Are you in school?

Maryanov: Yes I am. This is my last year at Sac State studying Finance, International Business. When Tiana goes international that’s where I come in.

Vega: She’ll no longer model she’ll be doing all the CEO work.

Do you have anything else in the works you’d like to share?

Icarangal: We’re doing an event with Shriners. We were hired by Shriners to do a fashion show for them. It’s going to be on June 9. It’s basically a prelude to the Concours d’Elegance.

The fashion show will have Tiana’s designs next to the cars that will be on exhibit so that’s going to be pretty cool. This part of the event will be held in front of the Shriners Hospital.

Tiana Vega Collection at A Midtown Pop Up Boutique (Image by: David Alvarez)

The Pop Up Boutique event was very popular and the collaborated effort by everyone involved was well coordinated. Although Mila Anatiychuk and Tennison Long did not want to take the spotlight they must be commended for doing great job putting the event together. They did a great job using the space available to bring creative talent to the first Pop Up Boutique.

Mila Anatiychuk talks to guest at A Midtown Pop Up Boutique (Image by: David Alvarez)

The Pop Up Boutique shows promise and it’s a unique way of bringing jewelry and fashion designers to one spot and also serves as a way to promote local talent. Live music also worked wonderfully in unison with the event.