From September 4 to 14, Lola's Garden  took up residence at Tienda Malahierba on Calle Bonavista 26 in Barcelona's Gràcia neighborhood. We shared the space with five other Filipino brands, in a collaboration organized with Artisanat.

Filipino brands under one roof

The pop-up brought together makers who rarely get to be seen side by side in Europe:

Artisanat and Phia the Label in clothing

Speranza and By BTG in bags

Golden Monstera in jewelry

Lola's Garden in fragrance

Each brand works in a different medium, but the pop-up made the common thread easy to see. These are Filipino designers building something in Europe, for a community that has been here a long time and is rarely addressed directly.

1898, in person

For many visitors, this was their first time smelling 1898. Fragrance is hard to explain online, so having it on a table changed the conversation. People could try it and ask about the notes: mandarin, nutmeg, sampaguita, kulfi, sandalwood, and vanilla.

The name also came up often. 1898 is the year the Philippines declared independence, and it sits at the center of the fragrance. Explaining it face to face gave the story more room than a product page could. Many of the visitors were shocked to smell "home" in a bottle.

Why Gràcia, and why together

Why Gràcia. Gràcia is a neighborhood people walk through on purpose. It has independent shops, small plazas, and a habit of stopping to talk, which suits a pop-up that depends on conversation. Fragrance is personal. You need time to try it, ask about it, and come back to it, and a street like Bonavista gives people that time. Tienda Malahierba is a small, independent space, so visitors met the brands directly instead of walking past a display.

Why together. Filipino brands in Europe are often small, and most of us work alone. Any one of us can be easy to miss. Six brands in one room is a different signal: a cluster of designers working in clothing, bags, jewelry, and fragrance, all from the same heritage. Visitors could go from a garment to a bag to a fragrance and see how the same culture shows up in different materials.

Sharing the space also worked in practice. Each brand brought its own audience, so people who came for one stayed for the others. A community showing up for each other is the best introduction a small brand can get.

Why it matters for Lola's Garden. Lola's Garden was built as a home for the Filipino diaspora in Europe, and a home needs a place where people can actually gather. A pop-up like this gives the community a room to walk into, not just a website to visit.

Thank you

Thank you to Tienda Malahierba for hosting us, to Artisanat for bringing everyone together, and to the brands who shared the space. And thank you to everyone who came in, tried the fragrance, and stayed to talk.

Next stop: Madrid

The next pop-up is El Kolektivo Popup in Madrid, hosted by Archive ni Cole. We'll bring 1898 to a new city and a new group of people. If you're in Madrid, come by, try the fragrance, and say hello.

Follow along on Instagram for details as we get closer.