What I Saw at Purveyr Fair 2026

I finally went to Purveyr Fair yesterday. It's been running for years now (it's at World Trade Center Tent this year) and I had somehow never made it, which is a little embarrassing to admit for someone who has made a career out of supporting Filipino-grown brands. I went in without much expectation. I came out with a lot to think about.

The brands are the point of this fair, so let me start there. Courier, Revibe Culture, and Strong Village stood out for me. Each one had a clear idea of what it was making and who it was making it for. The construction was good. You could look at the stitching and the hardware, and not feel like you were being sold a story that the product couldn't back up. And then you'd check the price tag and it would be, well, fair. Not cheap. Fair. That's not as common as it should be.

I've been feeling a bit worn out by the Filipino fairs lately. I say that as someone who sells at one of them. Nobela (my jewelry brand) has a booth, and I'm grateful for it because it sustains us. But walk the aisles and you start to notice that it's the same brands, doing the same look, quarter after quarter. Local weaves. Butterfly sleeves. The same abaca shoes. It's all pretty but it has stopped surprising me, and dare I say anyone at this point.

Purveyr was different. The designers are younger, the work is edgier, and you can track the train of thought in the work. It made me feel something I hadn't felt at a fair in a while, which is curiosity. I also felt inspired to create new things, seeing how many people came through to support the fair and the brands inside.

In case you missed it, local fashion has been taking a beating online, and I don't think all of it is unfair. The recurring complaint is that local brands are overpriced. I'm supposedly the target market for a lot of these labels, and even I've looked at some of them and thought the fabric and the finishing don't justify the number. There have also been accusations that some brands are ordering from Shopee or Alibaba and putting a "made in the Philippines" label on it. I can't verify every case, and I'm not going to name names here. But the fact that the conversation exists at all tells you something about the growing lack of trust.

Here's what I think: this is still a very young industry. Most of the people running these brands are figuring out sourcing, production, margins, and marketing at the same time, often with no one to ask. I've been on the other side of a pricing spreadsheet for Nobela and I know how quickly a "reasonable" price stops covering your costs. Some brands get the math wrong, some overcharge because they can. The customers are finding their way too, learning what a fair price for local craftsmanship looks like.

This is why a fair like Purveyr is useful. It's curated, and the curation has a point of view: Filipino-made, honest about what it is, and priced so that people actually buy. The three brands I mentioned show that you can do all of that at once. The vision is there, the quality is there, and the price makes sense.

I'll be back next year. I should have gone sooner.

PS I just want to say the dining experience at the fair was absolutely miserable. It was hot, tight, and the food was so-so. Hopefully it’s better next year!