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The Markets Take Fashion’s Night Out

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the markets of New York city are the heart of innovation in design, food, decor, and many other trends that we’ll see a couple of years from now in mainstream catalogs. And this Thursday, September 8th, 2011, the markets are taking part in Fashion’s Night Out in a fun, fabulous, winning way :

Manhattan

Hester Street Fair Takes Over Henri Bendel on 5th Avenue: 50 of Hester Street’s fine designers, artists, chefs, and craftspeople will set up their boutiques on the entire 3rd floor of this venerable, striped establishment. Time: 3 – 11PM, Location: Henri Bendel, 712 5th Ave. at 56th Street

Fashion’s Night Out at the Corrente Flagship Store: Celebrate the new season with handbag designer Corrente and two talented jewelry designers Rebecka Froberg and Teresa Kahres at the new Corrente Flagship. Stop by for a sip of wine, a bit of a nosh, and some fabulous of shopping with these independent New York designers. Time: 6 – 9PM, Location: 179 Orchard between Houston and Stanton

Brooklyn

Fashion’s Night Out with Artists & Fleas: More than 30 independent fashion designers, accessory-makers, vintage enthusiasts and artists showcase new collaborations, new collections and Fall/Winter looks for a night of pop-up shopping and Fall fashion fun. Time: 6 – 11PM, Location: Artists & Fleas, 70 North 7th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Moved to Sunday due to the weather! Dekalb Market’s Red Carpet Event with Food, Drinks & Tunes: Open Bar, food tasting and art, with a fashion show featuring local designers 66 Blackbirds, Hank & JoJo, Rubyzaar, Little Poco, Honeysuckle + Hearts, Harriets by Hekima. Time: 3PM, Location: 138 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn

Meanwhile, Back in the Meatpacking District:

My dear, talented, wonderful friend, fine artist Amarillis Kroon is having a FNO solo show at the late night Meatpacking salon, Red Market. Originally from Hungary, Ami is a long-time resident of the West Village. I have dubbed her work Nouveau Art Deco, and you will see exactly what I mean when you see the divinely fashionable ladies she is featuring in this show. She also has a magical talent for pet portraits, capturing the very soul of her subjects. Time: 6 – 11PM, Location: 32 Gansevoort Street, Meatpacking District, Manhattan. (Image by Amarillis Kroon: Homage to Sonia Rykiel)

So grab your finest threads and meet me for a fabulous Fashion’s Night Out in the heart of it all, the independent markets of New York City!

Amarillis Kroon at Red Market Salon - 2011 Fashion's Night Out NYC

There’s A Giant Pink Squid Under the Christmas Tree

What happens when artisans sell their creations at the markets or pack them up and ship them to all corners of the world for the holidays? They never get to see where their handiwork ends up or who opened the packages on Christmas morning. After talking to artisans at the holiday markets recently about this subject, I decided to show them where the gifts I bought ended up.

We spend the holidays with my husband James’ family, and I can honestly say that every single gift from a New York City market was received with much happiness. One particularly special piece was placed at the top of the tree.

I picked out Squidfire’s hot pink giant squid T-shirt for myself, and James wrapped it up for me. I loved the way it glowered up from underneath the tree. Dainty earrings made by Martin Lopez at AdornmentsNYC from vintage beads and findings got placed immediately in my sister-in-law Judy’s ears. They make a faint hypnotic jingle for her ears only. She also adored the tiny sandalwood candle in a gold pressed glass vase from Lovely Day Designs.

For my nephew, I chose one of my favorite T-shirts to add it to his growing collection of Gnome Enterprises designs. It’s the one where the tree gets its revenge on the lumberjack. My lucky husband got the fluffy black sweatshirt from Fleisher’s Grassfed Organic Meats that says, “Bacon: The Gateway Meat.” It’s a classic.

James made all the holiday cookies this year. (Tip: He added bergamot oil to the icing – amazing!) Anyway, he burned his hand several times taking them out of the oven using our pitiful oven mitts. So I gave him a gorgeous handmade oven rack pull from Meb’s Kitchenwares. It’s in the shape of a fish, and it was a bit of a mystery to everyone until I explained what it was. They all agreed it was brilliant.

Speaking of brilliant, the crayon apron from Pickleboots was the runaway winner with my two-year-old niece, although the pink handbag with a furry mouse in the pocket got a lot of love too.

And finally, there were two piéces de resistance for my brother-in-law Thom. The four of us recently went on vacation to Paris. All Thom wanted was unusual French salts, but he didn’t get any. So when we saw this beautiful collection of salts from Gneiss Spices at the Brooklyn Lyceum, we thought of him. The cute jars are magnetic, and you can store the salts (3 of which are French, and 2 of which are pink) on your fridge.

We also gave Thom a beautiful sign from Yee Haw Industries that says, “Carve that Possum.” He placed it at the top of the tree. We’ll frame it for his workshop after the holidays.

This New Year’s Eve brings us a full moon, a blue moon, a partial lunar eclipse! A lot of great things are going to happen with the Markets of New York blog in the new year, and I am already excited about the book’s release in June. Visit often!

Have a safe and happy new year. And don’t forget to look up!

Welcome to Markets of New York City

Welcome to Markets of New York City!

I visited the amazing, fun, gritty, tasty, and incredibly rich markets of New York City over the past year, took 6,000 photos, and wrote a guidebook, “Markets of New York City; A Guide to the Best Artisan, Farmer, Food and Flea Markets,” coming June 2010 from The Little Bookroom. I have launched this blog to accompany the guidebook, and also to continue to support the markets every day by sharing information and experiences with fellow market enthusiasts.

And there are a lot of wonderful markets in the city!

There is a growing passion for handmade, locally grown, and repurposed/reloved items these days, and I daresay New York is at the epicenter. The Council on the Environment of New York alone holds over 50 farmers markets each week in the five boroughs. There are flea markets selling unusual treasures in parking lots and garages. As for artisan markets, I can barely keep up with the new ones that are opening all over town.

A lifelong market shopper, I aim to provide a place where people can find out about these markets, go enjoy them, and tell their friends all about them. The blog features the markets themselves and the individuals at the heart of the markets, be they beaders, butchers, beekeepers or Bakelite experts.

I am thrilled to be launching the blog during the holidays! I made a commitment to buy all my gifts at the markets, and I have never had more fun during the insane and crowded holiday shopping season. Please sign up for the forthcoming newsletter emails and follow Markets of New York City on Facebook and Twitter too!

Thank you and Welcome!

Karen Seiger

Market Enthusiast, Author, Blogger