For a whole week at the SEE/KNOW store, we celebrated Filipino-American creatives and their work. BARANGAY is a collective/creative agency that consists of photographers, videographers, painters, and clothing designers. And they’re not just exclusively Filipino— there are 35 members located all around the world.
Since their launch in 2018, they’ve done plenty of events internationally, and for their first event in three years, we had the pleasure of hosting.
Co-founder of BARANGAY and SEE/KNOW general manager, Dominick Alcantara, says the beginning of this collective was created because, “we were just six guys that wanted to play pool.” In the end, it turned into a highly successful creative group that had gorgeous artwork and merchandise plastered all around the SEE/KNOW store.
Merchandise is a big part of Bangaray events, and they tend to tailor their clothes to fit the vibe of the location and SEE/KNOW was no exception. At their in-home workshop, BARANGAY was able to pop out beautifully screen-printed pieces that fit the SoHo streetwear scene using repurposed clothing. Guests that bought pieces could easily wear their very own BARANGAY masterpiece.
The entire week was a success, starting with the opening party. There were over 200 heads joining us to talk about art, skim through merchandise and listen to DJs cbcairwaves, LANSUH, Gabriel Etrata, manalaang, ALCANTARA, and Chambray.
Drinks were sponsored by EBBS, a local NYC brewery, and we were able to sip our choice of lager, IPA or pale ale.
Wednesday was also the start of a new event: The SEE/KNOW Red Couch Session, where local musicians Andre Molina and Javian performed live. They were followed by Gabriel Etrata and Kuya, who performed on Thursday night. At our Saturday closing party, we had tattoo artist and BARANGAY member Natasha Fortson come and do flash tattoos in-store.
It was incredibly fun to bring in new experiences and support artists all while spotlighting our local Filipino community. We can’t wait for the next one.