On Friday, a parking lot on Mateo Street in the Arts District was dotted with cars. By Saturday afternoon, it had been transformed into a charming flea market filled with independent vendors selling secondhand clothes, home goods, jewelry and food. Hosted by Analise Anderson, the creator of the Frogtown Flea Crawl, in collaboration with SUAY SEW SHOP, the grand opening of Market on Mateo was a triumph for nontraditional retail.

Anderson hosts the Frogtown Flea Crawl twice a month, inviting community members to stroll along the Los Angeles River and explore businesses in the Elysian Valley neighborhood. Anderson had collaborated with textile recycling brand SUAY SEW SHOP previously for the crawl, so when the brand reached out about co-hosting Market on Mateo, she saw an opportunity to bring awareness to the Arts District neighborhood and the many small shops that are born there.

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“The goal of the events with the vintage community is to take undiscovered, true Angeleno gems, like neighborhoods that people might not explore otherwise, and fill them with lots of things to see because a lot of these retail spaces in Los Angeles don’t have a lot of foot traffic,” Anderson said.

Growing up in L.A., one of Anderson’s first encounters with walkable markets being a cornerstone of a community was in the historic El Pueblo de Los Angeles district. Her grandfather was one of the first vendors on Olvera Street, running a leather craftsman shop for 80 years.

“I’ve always felt some connection to the market space in general,” Anderson said. “When I was little, we used to go to the market, and all our tíos and tías would be in the stalls, giving us candy and making sure that we were taken care of. It just felt like a big family.”

Anderson explained that she hopes to foster community and create a third space — a place outside of work and home that people can leisurely enjoy — at her flea market events, much like Olvera Street was for her while she was growing up.

“In Los Angeles, it feels like you have to pay an entry fee to exist in the same space as micro influencers who aren’t even from here, who can’t really give you anything other than a purchase,” Anderson said. “I want our market to feel like people can go and hang out there all day, and you don’t have to purchase anything, and it’s good enough to come and make a friend and have somewhere to go continuously with like-minded people who you feel comfortable being around.”

Customers dressed in colorful patterns and edgy streetwear browsed through the racks of over 40 vendors. Anderson attributes the individuality of the crowd to the creativity that secondhand style affords people.

“Most of the fashion retailers are looking to specifically flea markets and vintage fashion in Los Angeles to manufacture the next trends,” Anderson said. “The young [people] who are all starting these little micro trends, they’re starting them in the flea markets or in their street style, without influence from an algorithm.”

Jessica Almos, the owner of Stellar Secondhand, says she focuses on sourcing high-quality Y2K and modern clothing in a size-inclusive range. Almos started her business in 2022, after working at a resale retail store that primarily bought fast fashion brands.

“I got trained as a buyer, and I was like, ‘Why am I getting paid minimum wage to do this for someone else?’” Almos said. “They were really into trend cycles, and I’m more into forever pieces that are timeless and prioritizing well-made vintage.”

Now, her shop is filled with her own style: vibrant colors, high-quality denim and vintage shoes. While she acknowledges that shopping secondhand isn’t always possible, Almos emphasizes that people should be doing it as much as possible.

“There are more than enough clothes in the world to clothe literally every human being, like a million times,” Almos said. “You don’t need to buy anything new. It’s going to be cheaper. It’s going be more unique.”

Anderson explained that she sees local, sustainable and secondhand shopping as a pushback against fast fashion retailers who are “filling our landfills with their clothes.”

“People are looking for an experience that isn’t algorithmic and isn’t something that’s based on popularity. It’s based on true, authentic senses of style,” Anderson said. “[Shopping secondhand] inspires a lot of creativity, because while you might not be able to manufacture [exactly] whatever is trending right now, you can somehow have a vision and an eye for fashion in order to take secondhand and thrifted pieces and turn them into something way more fashionable.”

Tiffany Frances, who owns the vintage clothing brand Melodic Prints, loves the local flea market scene for its ability to create community and connect people through their love of vintage fashion. She plans to continue cultivating her brand by attending events like Market on Mateo.

“I actually want to keep growing it in a way that is just more curated, that inspires people to love sustainability and also other eras in the past, and enjoy the quality of clothing that the past has had to offer,” Frances said.

Anderson said part of the need for community spaces in L.A. is for businesses to collaborate in a location where people can “spend the entire day in a single area, walking around without cars.”

“There’s a lot of great businesses in the Arts District that are a little bit isolated from one another just by the way that we manufacture our streets,” Anderson said. “If we can bring a crowd of people to an industrial part of the city and help revive it … There’s many benefits to bringing a crowd of people to an undiscovered area. If the city pays attention to you, then you have potential to uplift the entire neighborhood.”

One of Anderson’s goals is to emphasize the potential for cultural growth in Frogtown, which she hopes will spur the city to expand their reforestation efforts.

“In the last 10 years since I have been growing up, I’ve watched that area become more filled with restaurants and bars, and we can see the growth in the area affecting the nature,” Anderson said. “Because of the influence of more businesses and people, the city is paying more attention to the reforestation efforts and funding that better and trying to make that neighborhood a little better.”

Anderson emphasizes that everyone is welcome at Market on Mateo, which she plans to host once a month, free to the public.

“Maybe you don’t buy something every time, but you come back to talk to your friends and ask about what they’re making and what they’re doing. You have a space that is free to go to … I just want to make sure that everyone feels welcome and there isn’t a barrier to entry at all,” Anderson said. “It’s beyond inspiring transaction. What we’re trying to do is inspire ideas as well.”