New online store: Trendy Market supports handmade artisans

Don’t you love finding unique, one off and hard to find pieces?  A new online Melbourne based store named Trendy Market  launched just a few months ago, and is showcasing a select range of handmade and carefully crafted products produced by emerging and established artisans, that you won’t see everywhere else!.

Having just launched, Trendy Market is still expanding their range, but a few items in particular caught my eye. The recycled billboard bags by Foliklo come in all shapes, sizes, and colours – Perfect for teens and young adults.

I was mesmerised by the work of Stobiecki Design.  Old timepiece parts have been intricately reworked into interesting and timeless (excuse the pun) jewellery pieces.

And for a bright shot of colour, Jubiko’s titanium sunset earrings are perfect for springtime fashion!

Magdalena Oleksy is the person behind Trendy Market, and shared with us her inspiration behind launching this new store .

1. What inspired you to launch Trendy Market?   I love original, highly unique pieces of functional art and was looking for something special for myself. I was hit with an avalanche of products, literally hundreds of pages of products and designs on volume oriented platforms where I found it very difficult to connect with the artists. So, I decided that Trendy Market must only offer a limited number of passionate designers and their specialty products. Each artist is given my full support and care, while at the same time it is easy for potential customers to navigate through the site knowing that they will find the best and the most inspirational designs only.

2. How do you select which designs you will showcase?   I am all about sustainability. I do not accept mass-manufactured products or artworks of which manufacturing has been outsourced. I want to support passionate artists whose’ products have to be designed and handmade by the artists or a small co-operative.

My ultimate goal is to showcase the best Australian and international designers. This does not necessarily mean the most famous designers, as I closely monitor international design competitions and hope to attract to Trendy Market the most interesting contestants. It is worth mentioning amazingly talented artists currently displaying on Trendy Market like Fiann, who won the Special Art Clay Club Award in the 15th Pearl Jewelry Design Contest in Japan, and Stobiecki Design who have been awarded by the Polish Foundation of Modern Art for their incredible jewellery.

Finally and probably most importantly I rely on my own taste and select what I like the most.

3.  This may be a difficult question, but do you have any favourite designs at the moment?  I love and am drawn to all the designs I showcase on Trendy Market, but my absolute favourite is soutache jewellery. These delicate pieces of pure visual delight are eye-catching and definitely highly unique to the Australian market. I am also quite fond of the funky recycled bags by Foliklo. Each bag is a bright and engaging piece of art, cleverly designed, and of course they have sustainability at their heart.

4.  Where do your dreams lie for Trendy Market – What can we expect to see in the future?   I visualise Trendy Market having a broader range of beautiful, sustainable, unique home-wares and art products. Currently, we are exhibiting more jewellery than home-wares, but I’m excited about the growth that will happen in other categories on the site over the next year.

I also see Trendy Market becoming a household name. We will be the first port of call for fabulous designs not seen anywhere else and the first choice online platform for artists to share their passion and creativity through their artwork, with people looking for unique and beautiful products to buy for themselves or their loved ones.

5. Share with us your easy eco living tip:   I genuinely believe that a simple shift in ones’ awareness and sense of responsibility to their family, community and the condition of this beautiful planet can start at home. Firstly,  keeping electricity and water consumption at a reasonable level, and of course segregating household waste, buying environmentally and sustainable products, and avoiding unnecessary shopping sprees.  These activities create and help to grow self – awareness, especially in our children.