SAN DIEGO — A group of San Diego women are working to bring Mexican, South American, and Latinx designers to United States customers, and beyond, by setting up pop-up shops in some of your favorite stores.
Once a month, inside a Nordstrom store in San Diego, you're likely to catch Linda Waisboard and her infectious demeanor.
Waisboard, and her partners Diva Lomas and Catherine Bachelier, are the founders of the My Pipl pop-up shop. Using their style know-how, and influence over more than a million social media followers combined, they showcase and sell bags, shoes, jewelry, and more. The designs come from Mexican and Latin American designers and brands to people they might not otherwise reach.
"I think it's important for people to understand that other countries are doing fabulous fantastic things that really compete worldwide," Waisboard said. "I think it's so important in so many ways. First of all these Latino brands get the exposure they need to really grow and step outside of their own countries, which is very hard to do."
One of their brands is Mezcalero. Federico Navarro, commercial director for the brand's parent company, says working with My Pipl was a no-brainer.
"We understand they know the market, they know the fashion, the product and they support this kind of product," Navarro said. He added Mezcalero has been a brand of the company for years in Mexico. Now, they're looking to branch it out.
Another designer, Esmeralda Espinoza Zamora, creates high-end jewelry. She tells us her designs have taken off in beach communities like Cancun, Tulum, and even Miami-- showing her there is a market for what she makes.
In Spanish, she told us partnering with My Pipl has proven to be an "incredible" opportunity for her business to break deeper into the American market.
And while it may seem like fun and games, this is serious business for the designers and the pop-up's founders.
"Fashion makes you feel a certain way. It's art," Waisboard says. "It's art on your body and you get to decide what you want to say every single day."
My Pipl will have its pop-up shops six more times this year. The next one will at the Nordstrom store in Fashion Valley from June 9-12.
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