Philadelphia Is the New Brooklyn

We heard this statement in passing we don't remember where and it sort of stuck in our minds. Sure statements like this are as ridiculous as "gray is the new black" but there's a certain nugget of truth there. As rents are rising in Brooklyn or LA or SF, artists, designers, musicians, creative young people in general are settling in places where they can afford to live and have a shot at owning a business or a home. We've heard Portland, we've heard Baltimore and we've also heard Philadelphia mentioned time and again.

The "new" Philadelphia has naturally filtered into some interesting shops opening up in the past couple of years.

Vagabond

With a growing base of talent in the area, why not take advantage of it? Vagabond does just that, combining clothing from local designers, their own line of knitwear and clothing, select independent brands from around the country and some funky vintage for good measure.

Smak Parlour

Opened just last year, Smak Parlour is all about in-house creations. The aesthetic is fashionable punk: girly cuts, colors and patterns messed up just so.

Ubiq

For the guys (mostly), there's Ubiq. The shop is sneaker boutique executed to perfection. The building is from another era. The interior is a white-walled gallery with a wall of shoes from brands big and small, domestic and foreign. Like you doubted it for a second, the shop also plays host to art shows from urban artists.

We'll be talking about more stores in a few future posts that we'll link here later.

Update 7/4: And here they are:

• Art Star
• Rarebreed
• Minima