When walking into The MetFest, a street-style clothing pop-up, organizer Riches McDaniel wants customers’ eyes to open wide to embrace a new era of streetwear fashion in Columbia.
McDaniel said his goal is for customers to support the brands and embrace the fashion.”
The MetFest is a pop-up event for streetwear vendors to network their brands, McDaniel said. The event ran from noon to 6 p.m. today at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
McDaniel owns Chaser, a clothing brand that sells athletic wear. He started The MetFest in 2024 with two other street-style clothing brands — Krazy and Doe Clothing — because they wanted to expand their network in Columbia.
“We’re bringing North drip, Western drip, LA drip — bringing it right here to Columbia,” McDaniel said.
Takiya Willingham, who worked at the event greeting people at the doors, said she defines streetwear as an expressive style of clothing, where pretty much anything is accepted.
Willingham’s own clothes reflected the street style. Her jeans featured colored stitching and added pockets sewn on. She’s modeled for a few of the brands at the event and has grown a respect for streetwear, she said.
“The more unhinged it is, the more people want to see it,” Willingham said. “Like these jeans … they started off as regular jeans, right? But then he added some personality to them.”
McDaniel attracted vendors through online promotion and attending other people’s pop-ups. He organized the first MetFest in 2024 at an event venue on Whaley Street, which gave them the reference for the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, which they have used in the two years since.
McDaniel said the event gets more popular and better organized every year, with around 46 vendors this year.
“The city has got to see something happen a couple times for them to join in,” McDaniel said. “So now, it's getting bigger because they see what's going on.”
Jamel Williams represented his clothing brand, Money Society, at The MetFest, its first event in South Carolina.
Williams is looking for an opportunity to grow and make connections at the pop-up, he said.
“I do want to expand my brand into pants, socks, hats and everything,” Williams said. “But I'm just getting started, so I'm just trying to get a feel, find the right vendors, and just continue to grow.”
Most of the brands at The MetFest sell clothes, but it is open to brands of all kinds, McDaniel said.
Clothes on a rack at MET Fest in the A&B Ballroom of the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center on Jan. 24, 2026.
One of those brands is Modified Beats esthetics, a skincare company run by Amiahja Dingle. Dingle learned about The MetFest online and signed up in hopes it would bring in more clients for the business.
“I thought it was the perfect opportunity, especially for young people,” Dingle said. “Because I don't think we understand how much our skin can impact us later on in our life.”
Event staff member Letica Gibson has been supporting her nephew's brand Krazy Apparel online and said she came to The MetFest to support him.
Gibson said she hopes that The MetFest helps raise awareness of smaller brands and individuals who are starting businesses from the ground up.
“These people started off in their homes trying to get their designs on their own computers,” she said. “They're just trying to grow it so that more people can be aware of it and support the smaller businesses.”