Portobello East Market

Portobello East Market is the expansion of the existing brand Portobello West Market, established in Vancouver, BC in August of 2006. Inspired by the famous, long established European markets, the monthly market was created to provide a low-cost venue for local artists and designers to show and sell their goods directly to the public. Vendors at Portobello West (the Market) benefit from marketing opportunities, cross-promotional opportunities, exposure to the media and onsite sales.

After two successful years in Vancouver, the Market expanded to Calgary, AB. As there is a smaller local artist and designer community, the Calgary market is a three-day market, twice a year in Spring and Fall, corresponding with the fashion calendar. The vendors participating in the Market are based not only in Calgary but also in Vancouver and Edmonton.

Portobello West

Community Success

The Market’s proven model has been constantly refined since creation and will be easily applied to Toronto as the markets share many common factors. In just over two years in Vancouver, Portobello West has developed very strong brand recognition with the media, consumers and within the designer community. It is both well respected and supported by its loyal following spanning most communities within Vancouver and the lower Mainland, as demonstrated in the quotes below.

Management

Portobello East was established by Carlie Smith, the founder of Portobello West, with support from Tom Parkinson, the web and graphic designer.

Carlie Smith established Portobello West in August 2006 with little funding and just the determination, perseverance and her idea. The original market took five months to prepare for and all marketing, PR and organization was undertaken by Carlie. Using her experience from launching Vancouver and Calgary, Carlie will employ many of the same tactics in Toronto. Carlie relocated to Toronto in May 2009 to allow three months to make contacts with designers, industry and other entrepreneurs. Carlie attended shows in Toronto in Winter 2008 and early Spring 2009 to begin promotion and awareness of the Market within the designer and artist communities. Additionally, final details in the marketing plan will be confirmed in Toronto to adjust for the local market and cultural differences. Carlie’s business and marketing background as well as relationship building skills will help to ensure the success of Portobello East.

Since inception, Carlie has organized over 30 markets and over 300 local designers and artisans have sold their unique wares at the popular market; from well known designers such as Nicole Bridger to brand new designers Anomalous and Thunder Child. The monthly market was immediately accepted by the burgeoning fashion community and now plays an integral role in the development of the Vancouver fashion scene. Carlie will use her skills and experience to ensure that Portobello East becomes equally integral in the Toronto community.

To have a better idea of the Portobello East/West concept, please read an article by Angela Murrills, published in the Georgia Straight in Vancouver, prior to the first Portobello West market. A few things have changed since then but the overall concept remains to true to the initial vision.

Fashion Plate

If you build it, the fashionistas will come

By Angela Murrills - Published 4-May-2006

All treasured pieces of clothing come with a colourful anecdote attached, and it isn’t “I bought it on sale at Sears” but more along the lines of “I had a couple of hours to spare the day I flew back from London so I roamed along beside Regents Canal through Little Venice, got sucked into Camden Market, and that’s where I found my vast paisley shawl. Is it modern? Hardly. More a 1920s knockoff of a Victorian classic. Twenty quid, about $40.” You get the idea. Any roving fashionista likely returns from her travels not just with a black-velvet coat from Sydney’s Paddington Market or a bias-cut skirt pieced together from crimson and saffron silks plucked from a heap on a stall in Siem Reap but with a question. Why not us too? How come Vancouverites can’t amble around in the open air, picking up this or that item of clothing or jewellery and schmoozing with the people who created them? Why can’t we have a Camden or a Paddington in Vancouver? Well, guess what? If enough people jump aboard a brand-new project, we can. Starting August 27 (and the last Sunday of every month thereafter), we’ll have our very own outdoor clothing and crafts market, thanks to inveterate market shopper and local, Carlie Smith.

Smith, 25, grew up in North Vancouver, studied entrepreneurial management at BCIT, and promptly hightailed it to London for a couple of years where, she says in a recent interview, she discovered the thrill of shopping at markets: “I loved…the atmosphere, and finding something you know you won’t find anywhere else. Spitalfields was my favourite. I was buying from local designers. A lot have businesses in the area and exhibit on Sundays to get additional exposure.”

Smith hit the tarmac back here in November 2005, immediately showed her U.K. boyfriend the Plaza of Nations, and told him, “That’s where the market’s going to be.” A ballsy move. Now she has 50,000 square feet, four dates confirmed, and is currently rounding up stall holders. Hence the early warning. Designers who have already signed up for her Portobello West (www.portobellowest.com/) include recent Kwantlen grad Kathleen Leung with her biker kids’ Motostars line, Karen Holden and her Slipstitch handbags, and Sugarlime Jewellery, as well as cool Main Street boutique the Petri Dish. Cutoff date for registration is June 1.

“I want diversity,” says Smith, who envisages the event as a nexus, and has, in her sights, “everyone from recent fashion-school grads to unknowns to established designers.” Armed with a list of 130 names, she’s currently explaining how it all works, talking to people, telling friends to tell friends, hoping the shampoo-commercial theory or six degrees of separation, whatever you want to call it, will draw talents out of hiding, and banking that there’s enough of it out there to rock the city.

Her goal is a mix of 50 percent clothing and 50 percent jewellery, art, and pottery. The cost, if you share a 100-square-foot booth with a couple of other noncompeting designers (Smith will organize that), is $70 a day. Whether you stay that size or go bigger, the table, backdrop, and promotion (including paid ads and an event guide) are all factored in. Smith is also looking for sponsorship. What’s in it for already known labels? Try artistic fulfilment. “More established designers can have their full collection at the market,” says Smith. “If they have some riskier pieces that stores might not be interested in,” here’s their chance to test the consumer waters and to promote the stores that already stock their line. “We’re inviting boutiques to participate, to co-op with a designer,” Smith says. Men’s and kids’ fashions are also part of the equation.

Right now, Smith is doing it alone, funding it from her savings, temping on the side to top up the cash as need be. Portobello West is most definitely not a one-off, she says. “We need consistency. I’m adamant about it being once a month.” As she points out, the location is outdoors but covered, and “winter, there will be more of an interior feel.” She’s thought it all through, right down to where you try on that slithery new dress or those outrageous pants. There will be draped areas to change in. Bongo Beat, already a sponsor, is providing music. While you’re browsing around up to 100 stalls, you’ll want somewhere to fuel up on java and possibly snack on deli-style food. She’s organizing that, too. “The way I’ve got it in my mind,” says Smith, “it will be such a great experience. And you’ll probably walk away with a really fantastic piece.”