Beneath a gray Saturday sky, color found a way to break through. Racks of vintage clothing bloomed with pattern after pattern, gold jewelry caught what little light there was and a trunk of scarves spilled over the first side table shoppers faced walking in. Just steps away, the smell of butter and warm sourdough drifted from Cou Cou Rachou’s open kitchen, where a line of regulars waited out the door despite the remnants of drizzle. The event in question marked the fourth collaboration between Le Marché du Soleil, a vintage and secondhand pop-up shop and Cou Cou Rachou, a Charlottesville bakery known for its close-knit local following.
Elise Deschamps, owner of Le Marché du Soleil, said the partnership began almost by accident, after a former customer who lived near the bakery insisted she check it out. Deschamps — whose father is French — said that the bakery piqued her attention about two years ago after posting a picture of Orangina, a French soft drink that is relatively uncommon in the United States.
“She was like, ‘You need to come to Cou Cou,’” Deschamps said. “I looked them up on Instagram and I saw that they posted Orangina on their story … I need to come and get some Orangina.”
The exchange led to an email, then a pop-up and has produced three more events since. Deschamps has been running Le Marché du Soleil for seven years, sourcing clothing, jewelry and other accessories first through thrifting and now largely through estate sales and private collections. She said that the most rewarding part of the job is not the clothing itself, but who shows up for it.
One particularly valuable aspect of running the pop-up, Deschamps said, is the range of customers it draws, often browsing the same rack. She also pointed to smaller, more personal moments, like a customer who once found a house dress — a robe-like garment popular in the 1990s — at one of the pop-ups nearly identical to one she had bought decades earlier.
“I’m like, ‘wow, this is like the melting pot of America,’” Deschamps said.
That broad range of both customers and items for sale was easy to spot among shoppers. Class of 2019 alumna Ahra Nam had not been browsing long before she had already formed a positive impression of the selection. Nam said she was drawn less by nostalgia and more by the quality of the clothing itself — specifically, the fabric and construction of older garments compared to new ones.
“I think quality of clothing is a huge thing, because there’s just been kind of a downfall of really quality thread,” Nam said. “I’m trying to look more for natural fibers and good construction, which I feel is a lot more prevalent in vintage clothing as opposed to newer things.”
Keiji Yamasaki, who was passing through Charlotteville and stopped in search of a gift for his girlfriend, said that the crowded tent did not dampen the mood of the shoppers. If anything, he said the crowd’s mettle sharpened against the dour weather outside.
“Given it's a rainy day, it's nice seeing all the colors on the pieces just kind of pop amongst the gray clouds,” Yamasaki said. “It's nice seeing everybody out here in a nice community environment despite the weather.”
Third-year College student Sarah Imam said that this was her first time shopping at a vintage pop-up, though she was no stranger to secondhand shopping. Imam said that SWAP — a student organization whose name stands for Sustainability, Wearing confidence, Accessibility and Promoting community — is another example of the vibrance and activity of that scene.
“I know [the University has SWAP] and it’s really big and they do a lot of thrifting,” Imam said. “So I’d say there’s probably a pretty big thrifting scene.”
Imam added that pairing the market with a bakery only strengthened the draw, and said people are drawn to grabbing a sweet treat while they browse. Beyond the unique complement of the bakery locale, Imam said the diversity and nature of the crowd itself was what stood out to her most from the event.
“I would say [the pop-up’s atmosphere was] welcoming,” Imam said. “I saw a lot of different kinds of people, different styles, so it was very chill and laid back.”
The event was not without its challenges. Imam said the outdoors setup left little breathing room between racks and the humidity from the rain made browsing less comfortable than it might have been indoors.
Attendance remained steady from opening until the pop-up closed at 2 p.m. By early afternoon, the sun had started to break through the clouds and the line for pastries had not shortened. Deschamps said that two more pop-up collaborations in Charlottesville are already planned for the fall — one in October and one in November. According to Le Marché du Soleil’s Instagram, the former is scheduled for Oct. 9-11.
For a few hours on a gray weekend, a folding rack of secondhand clothes and a bakery’s open kitchen were enough to pull together strangers who might not otherwise cross paths — an example, perhaps, of the”melting pot” of people Deschamps said the pop-up draws together, rain or shine.
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