Autumn Moon’s Sailor Moon themed pop-up sale. Photo courtesy of Yesenia Hernandez.
At this Latina-owned boutique, Yesenia Hernandez is embracing both different cultures and local markets through her monthly themed pop-up sales. The popular Japanese anime Sailor Moon made its way into the heart of Autumn Moon, located North of the Bishop Arts District, on Saturday.
Hernandez works with local markets to meet new people, build up her clientele and share her designs with the Oak Cliff community. During the pop-up, local vendors, with a focus on women-owned businesses, displayed handmade merchandise from accessories to home decor alongside Hernandez’s own hand-drawn work.
“I curate a selection of women-owned brands,” Hernandez said. “Usually we allow 10 to 12 vendors for each market, and a lot of them end up being neighbors that live here in the area.”
She said she knows the struggles of being a small-business vendor- trying to get their name out in the community, promote on social platforms and sell inventory- before she opened up her first brick-and-mortar store.
“Some of the vendors I work with now are girls I actually met when I used to do pop-ups four or five years ago,” she said. “I focus on bringing in local, women-owned vendors because I started where they are now.”
Local vendor displaying merchandise at the Sailor Moon pop-up sale. Photo courtesy of Yesenia Hernandez.
This “cutesy” summer, Hernandez has let her creativity roam as she hosts themed markets once a month, connecting with different cultures and leaning into the nostalgia of her childhood.
She said she chooses the themes based on things she loved growing up. Despite being raised in a Hispanic household, she gravitated towards Asian-style cartoons and characters. Sailor Moon was the perfect theme, she said, because of her obsession with the Japanese show, the celestial moon and it tied into her storefront’s name.
Customers at the Sailor Moon pop-up sale. Photo courtesy of Yesenia Hernandez.
Saturday’s event was a hit with vendors quickly selling out of their tufted coasters, t-shirts and jewelry all modeled after the show’s aesthetic.
Though she’s a first-time business owner, this wasn’t the first time Hernandez has welcomed other cultures into her space. For the past two sales, Autumn Moon was decked out in Hello-Kitty.
“As a teenager, I was, and am still, obsessed with Hello Kitty, and the idea for a Hello-Kitty market all started when I made a Hello Kitty cup,” she said. “It wasn’t what I typically design, but I posted it on our Instagram, and my customers loved it.”
After hosting three themed sales, Hernandez said coordinating them has gotten much easier.
Each pop-up takes a month to plan in advance, but she said it’s worth it to design products she loves and embrace different cultures.
“I love Oak Cliff because it is a big melting pot, and it’s fun to see who shows up for the sale because there are so many residents who love these cultural characters and shows, you wouldn’t expect it,” she said. “My great granddad is from Asian heritage and through these different themes, I am able to express that part of my background while doing what I love.”
On July 22, she is hosting a Barbie themed sale. Autumn Moon hopes to continue these seasonal, themed sales as a foundation of its brand.
When it’s not summer, Hernandez said she’ll be designing her markets to celebrate things like Hispanic Heritage Month or Breast Cancer Awareness, honoring her fight with breast cancer this past year.
“My life and work are one, and I want my community to feel that they know who I am through what I sell,” Hernandez said.
