Portobello Rocks!

Portobello definitely rocks! More pop-up dates announced!

The legendary Portobello Market is synonymous with fashion and all things bang-on trend, so there was no better place to hold our West-side I Love Markets pop-up. It's reputation ensures a continuous flow of both tourists and locals, so all was set for a great day at Portobello Rocks! 
 
Some may of feared the rain as it came down hard on Friday, but Saturday thankfully stayed dry and stall holders were protected by the Westway and hassle-free gazebos, so no worries there. Market visitors were immediately intrigued by the bunting and balloons and the stall holders were fabulous, so let the shopping commence!  

Portobello Rocks, I Love Markets Pop-Up, Portobello Green

Katie Ingham from I Love Markets couldn't resist setting up a stall for the day!

Tie Doctor & Golden Grass draw in shoppers

The prize for one of the most aesthetically pleasing stalls has to be awarded to Haus Of Artisans.  Featuring products from three different artists. The passion and love for their products truly came across and they have been firmly placed on my Christmas Wish List to Santa!

https://www.ilovemarkets.co.uk/london/directory/shop/haus-of-artisans

The Tie Doctor was there giving out some crucial neck wear advice to all the Potobello fashionistas. Sporting his own product and even selling out of his £8 Stylish black bow. He has hitting the right note.

Self confessed vintage lovers ourselves the ILM team were very happy to see such an eclectic mix of Vintage making an appearance. 

Harper & Eye High-Fashion Vintage

Harper & Eye are definitely one to check out if you are a vintage lover, selling an awesome array of hand picked designer and high street apparel to suit any budget.

LFF Boutique also brought some statement customised vintage pieces along side her own branded womenswear and statement jewellery. Diana Vickers was recently spotted sporting her 'Boys Boys Boys' tee which you can get on the ILM Shop! 

Loud Prints from LFF Boutique

LFF Boutique on-trend fashion

Love Vintage

Love Vintage brought an aladdins cave of vintage treasures. Offering everything from gloves, handmade cards, prints, jewellery and accessories. She also put a smile on shoppers face with the vintage styled poster proclaiming "Your husband just called, he said buy whatever you want". We can dream...

Wunderbar Vintage was another big-hit, with masses of stylish picks from many different eras and the best collection of shoes we have ever seen! Katie from I Love Markets bought the embroidered oriental gown for £15 featured below, oh an also a great pair of sunglasses!

Wunderbar Vintage

 

Retro Great also brought some vintage wonders and mixed it up nicely with some unique retro styled handmade jewellery. 

The Golden Grass Company had one of the busiest stalls of the day with people fascinated by how these sophisticated, hand made, golden wonders start at around £10!

People couldn't keep their hands-off Golden Grass!

Acro Iris who normally trade in Camden traveled to Portotbello to showcase a large range of handmade products from leather flip flops to handmade charm bracelets. The bright colourful stall brought a ray of sunshine on a mainly cloudy day!

Mixy Fandino

Another trader bringing the sunshine was of course Mixy Fandino. The beautiful handcrafted jewellery comes from the Colombian Andes. It is made from sustainable materials in an array of bright South American colouring, Mixy is always sure to stand out from the crowd.

Jerpurity

Jerpurity with an extensive array of jewellery and accessories made using different African prints.

East End Prints brought a large selection of both framed and unframed prints. The animals prints seemed popular with the people of Portobello and if you missed out check out there extensive range on ILM.

Innabox brought the smiles with their cute collection of unique cards and phone cases.

Open The Gate take African prints and street culture to create their products. Their hood seemed a popular option and Sandrine was keen to get the public trying them on! If you missed them lucky for you the stylish hoodie is available on ILM! 

Trina's Delicacies was there to keep hungry sweet toothed market goers happy, and traders for that matter. She even managed to get her stall filmed in a sketch for an Italian comedian who were filming there.  Her brownie vanilla cupcake was amazing!

Portobello Rocks was a great success and  we are pleased to announce new dates for October, Novemer and December! Stalls are priced at an affordable  £45. Book your place fast to avoid disappointment! Sign up to I Love Markets and never miss another event again!

 

My Food Filled Visit to The Urban Food Fest

Last Saturday I paid a little visit to the lovely people at The Urban Food Fest. If you have never heard of it, it is London's newest street food night market and number 1 on Time Out London's Hot List. It features some of the best street food traders, a fully stocked bar, plentiful seating area with live music and entertainment also thrown into the mix.

It’s given me the hunger and I will defiantly be visiting again, this time on an empty stomach! Here are some of the lovely street food traders that kept all the eager, hungry and maybe slightly tipsy foodies happy. 

The next Urban Food Fest is taking place on September the 7th. Check out our events calender for the full low-down of market action. This is a taster of what to expect!

 

The Crumbery

The Crumbery makes and creates  handcrafted Pastries, Macaroons, Cakes and Confectionery.  Some conventional… some not so conventional. Unfortunately by the time I arrived most of what the Crumberry crew called conventional had been snapped up (rightly so).  I ended up faced with a Wasabi and Passion fruit macaroon. Now, I do not enjoy and therefore consume either of the ingredients, but after a few convincing words from there master-chef Vincent, which mainly consisted of “pretend it’s not passion fruit and wasabi.” I decided to go for it and you know what, it wasn't half bad! 

Golden Sunshine

This family run business keeps to its traditional roots mainly selling rice and jerk chicken. Luckily they still had some remaining for me to try! The jerk sauce came with an amazing kick. I was being polite and just took a small portion, and yes… I live to regret the politeness. True home style cooking turned street food! 

Comptoir Gourmand

Comptoir Gourmand is a fast-growing traditional French patisserie company. They supply around 25 cafes around London, in addition to having 3 cafes of their own. Yet despite this they still have stalls in markets all over London including Borough Market, Spitalfields Market and Venn Street. When I popped to their stall the choice was impossible. After a lengthy decision, breaking the ‘oh no it’s still sunny in September diet’ and holding up the queue, I opted for a Vanilla Slice.  A decision I will never regret. Now I just need to visit and see them at the market for more tasty treats.

Streetzza

First thing to say about Streetzza is WOW! This monster/horse box/wood-oven was rolling out non-stop amazing pizza all night long. There was nothing but queues of hungry people constantly all waiting to taste the delights that a wood oven in a horsebox can make! 

Portena

Portena, Portena, Portena… my favorite of the whole evening. I was lucky enough to arrive in time to a fresh batch of chicken and beef empanadas. To be entirely honest in my naivety, I wasn't entirely sure what I was eating. But I sure am glad I did. It was the most prefect, flavorsome easy to eat street food. My boyfriend insisted to go back and buy more! Also, to make my day even better the lovely chef told me they trade at Borough Market, YEY! As the I Love Markets are situated just down the road. 

Busan Korean

The Busan BBQ is an AmeriKorean food trader. They specialise in marrying American street food classica with Kaorean marinades to make awesome favour combinations. When speaking with them about their food and how it was made, these flavorsome feats sound enitrely unique to Busan. I'm still dreaming of trying their spiced pork belly burger now, i will be hunting them down at the next Urban Food Festival in hope of trying one!  

Mooshie Food

Mooshie is a new concept of Gourmet Street Food which showcases various types of Wild Mushrooms. If you are a mushroom and burger lover, Mooshie food is your dream. However not so much mine! Personally I am not a fan of mushrooms, however the Urban Food Fest people obviously were as they were fresh out when I arrived and their chef was on the run trying to sort out a delivery of more stock! Obviously an unusual and popular choice!

The I Love Markets Pop-UP

28th July 2013 at Brick Lane Sunday Upmarket

After weeks of planning, hours of making bunting and a few last minute balloons, the I Love Markets team were thrilled to get our hands and feet on a dedicated space at the famous Brick Lane Sunday Up-Market. A regular outing for locals and a stand-out hub for tourists to flock to. The Up-Market is a labyrinth of eclectic and eccentric products and people - which suits ILM just fine! After a couple of alarm clock disasters we beautified our space and were ready to chat markets, markets, markets!

We love markets!

As well as our good selves we brought with us 14 of our finest stallholders. Our aim was not only to tell the whole of Brick Lane that "We love markets" (and why) - we were also dedicated to achieving a community between all our lovely traders and the customers who come to meet them. Hopefully our carefully planned pairing lead to some life long friendships!

Goose Retro with Postcode Prints and Wheels & Butterflies with Lil3birdy

The aesthetically amazing stall next to ours was that of fashion and accessory designers Tiny Track and Eleanor Bret-Day. Ina Shin of Tiny Track specialises in unique collars and necklaces that first caught our eye at Netil Market a few months back. According to her, collars can "brighten up an outfit easily, with a few splashes of colour - you could be wearing a plain t-shirt but then feel totally different". When I asked her who could wear one, she said that "everyone could enjoy wearing their collars - girls, boys and of course dear puppies!" We agree Ina!

Tiny Tracks' awesomely quirky stall and one of her Detachable Collars, £32

Whilst Tiny Track is influenced largely by use of material, Eleanor Bret-Day finds inspiration from films, photographs and works of art. "I always use the same process: painting something, then digitalising and creating a print from a reasonably abstract starting point." 

Eleanor Bret-Day's stall and her beautiful Digital Print Crop Top, £45

As a person who lives in East London, I had to ask Eleanor, a fellow Eastern dweller, what she thinks is so creative about this side of the compass. Speaking about the creatives who moved here years ago for the cheap rent, she said, 
"once the creative community is formed, it just continues to grow. We all work off each other and collaborate across different creative industries, whether it be fashion, photography, or fine art. It just causes the creative community and area to grow." 
We're glad it has!

Someone who might speak for a different side of the river could be Paul McBride of Postcode Prints. Paul creates charming prints of London scenes that are instantly recognisable to the locals. Regular visitors to Clapham Common, West Norwood Feast or Brixton Academy will empathise with his love of the South. But there's something for all Londoners, with Camden Lock and Hackney Empire standing proudly on the stall, with more locations to come, I'm promised!

Brixton Ritzy Print, £30, and some of the delights at Postcode Print's stall

 Paul's stall buddy was Tammy Tawadros of Brixton Market's Goose Retro. Our resident vintage trader for the day. Tammy's passion for what she did was clear and lovely to see. 

"I have been an avid collector for most of my life!" she says. 

Tammy has a strict rule to only sell things that she loves and that she thinks others will love too. Sourced at Norwegian flea markets to vintage markets in Alexandria and anything in between. I aasked her what her favourite era is, 

"The 1970s colours and designs are fantastically strong and earthy. Dark greens, mustard yellows, browns and purples" all illustrated in her wonderful stock. Although she also loves the 30s, "I love deco design for its strong and bold colours and lines cobalt blues and canary yellows and allusions to ancient Egyptian art".

Beautiful bargain scarves by Goose Retro and some 70s Salt and Pepper Shakers

Lil3birdy and Wheels & Butterflies had a very busy stall. Although Clare Shields and Vicky Tippell's styles are totally different, what they did with their stall space was beautiful and a great example of how different creatives can come together. Vicky of Wheels & Butterflies specialises in upcycled jewellery, from disused typewriter keys to old watch parts:

"I often find it saddening that technology seems to replace craft in today's society. Although I do believe that technological advances are very important to our future, I find it vital that we also celebrate our past, and the skill and time taken in crafting objects. Typewriters have been replaced by computers, often watches are now battery operated, and the beauty in the object itself has been lost in favour of cheaper designs. By taking broken or discarded items, one can celebrate the beauty of our industrial past by simply appreciating their aesthetic"

Wheels & Butterflies and her unique Typewriter Key Bracelet £15

Our sentiments exactly! Clare tends to focus more on the animal kingdom. When asking her how she comes up with her subject matter, she said "I started off with birds due to design trends at the time and evolved the range to feature animals that have interested me at that moment." Squirrels drinking tea definitely interest me at this moment, so no wonder I liked their stall so much!

A pyramid of mugs at Lil3birdy's stall, along with her Mr Squirrel Placemat, £8.50

Back on the other side, Elena Hall Jewellery and MDG Jewellery were our jewellers in residency, showing off their beautiful designs that were lovingly handmade by both. Asking Elena about her process, she said  

"As well as jewellery I also work with embroidery so was inspired to create a range which combined my passion for both. It was through experimenting with silver, knitting and crochet that I developed the technique I use for knitting my pieces. The way that I produce these is unique as far as I know as I haven't seen anyone else doing quite the same". 

One of Elena's unique woven necklaces, as well as her colourful Neon Tassell Earrings, £15

Both are clearly passionate about their chosen subject matter - "I love that you can completely change an outfit with a piece of jewellery - dressing it up, adding a flash of colour - the right piece of jewellery can make a real statement and is an instant way to update an outfit you feel you've worn to death". I wholeheartedly agree!

Elena and Meg enjoying their stall, and MDG Jewellery's beautiful Chevron Ring, £185

Next door were Designwithflair and Louise Slater Illustration. One of the chirpiest stalls we had, it was great to see Louise's designs next to Omo's incredible creations. Convinced that one journal was the book of monsters from Harry Potter, I could see that Omo was not satisfied with the conventional book, and channelled this beautifully in her work. 

"I wanted fine art pieces that double as books; to create ''portable blank canvases'  for anyone to write, scribble, doodle, draw, even paint!"

Designwithflair's wonderfully creative stall, and one of her magical journals

Louise however channels her passions through linocutting,

"Experimenting with different colours is a lot of fun, and it's tempting to change the design if something works. I believe it's called serendipity!".

I think it's serendipity that we placed such enthusiastic creatives together at their stall!

Louise getting to know her fellow stallholders. Her Flower Stall Greeting Cards are £9 for a pack of 5

At the far end of our little cluster we had the lucky people who were in line with the door - as it was very hot under that Upmarket roof! Dionne Sylvester and Mister Peebles packed their stall out in an array of wonderful goodies. Moaning over our position down the other end of the space, we wanted to gaze into Dionne's spellbounding cushions, coasters, and handheld fans all day. 

Dionne's stall was spellbounding! Get one of her Teacup Sets for only £15

Helen McGinley of Mister Peebles presented us with a delightful community of different (hilarious, I should say also) characters. Absolutely unable to choose between them all, I got Helen to help me,

"The Peng Win is still one that I look at and smile. He reminds me of islands far away and he is an optimistic little fellow. I also like the Bear. He just looks quizzical and a bit dumfounded. Plus you can’t go wrong with stripy yellow pyjamas."  

She's right - but I also can't stop thinking about David Meowie...

Mister Peebles and the stall of wonderful characters. David Meowie Greetings Card is only £3!

Finally heading up the back was the colourful duo Mixy Fandino and Discover Beyond the Pale. Bright, spotty tablecloth in tow, the vibrant but differing styles of Mixy and Lenka drew customers in. Mixy's jewellery comes from South America and uses fantastic, unique materials such as 'vegetable ivory'. Lenka's personality shone through in her paintings - she was even raffling one for charity.

Mixy looking beautiful at her stall! Her colour Tagua Fusion Necklace is £28 

Discover Beyond the Pale's creative and colourful stall reflected Lenka perfectly! Her Misty Dream original is £150

If you came by our stall you'd have also witnessed the fantastic wares of Decogirl and Charlotte Wainwright Design. After spending ages trying on Decogirl's vintage jewellery, I got to really appreciate the intricate design behind Charlotte's beetle collection. 

A beautiful stall deserves beautiful people, so we were delighted when lots of friendly passers by came to take pictures in our space. If you didn't stop by to say "I love markets" to us, you should have; anyone who did got themselves a £10 voucher for our online shop. We're still giving a few away though so keep your eye on our FaceBook if you want one for yourself or a friend!

They love markets! Do you?

All-in-all, the Upmarket was everything we wanted it to be. Traders, customers, wonderful products - all our favourite things in one place. Everyone did a great job and we were proud of everyone involved. Have a look at our photo album if you missed the stall itself; because - as one of Charlotte's characters might say -  I moose't say it looked rather dashing.

Charlotte Wainwright Moos't Say Card, £3

 All of the above traders are available to buy on the ILM online shop - so don't worry too much if you didn't get down in person! Here are some of our faves from each:

Kibuna Minuta Beetle Mug, £10

Vintage Handbag and Umbrella Brooch, £22

HIgh Collar Screen Print Shirt, £79.99

Camden Lock, £30

Pastel Blue Detachable Collar, £32

Life's a Beach Greetings Card, £3

Summer Crave Mini Mug Set, £30

Jewel Bracelet, £25

Silver V Ring, £30

Curious Dogs Coasters, £12.50

Letterpress Name Necklace, £20

Blue Tit Lino Print, £45

Wooden and Stirling Silver Bracelet, £75

Monogrammed Journal, £16

Charlotte Wainwright Design

Decogirl

Designwithflair

Dionne Sylvester

Discover Beyond the Pale

Eleanor Bret-Day

Elena Hall Jewellery

Goose Retro (available to buy online soon)

Lil3birdy

Louise Slater Illustration

MDG Jewllery

Mister Peebles

Mixy Fandino

Postcode Prints

Tiny Track

Wheels and Butterflies

Hollye Murphy

The Saturday Market Trail

Just a couple of markets but plenty of action and most importantly, one satisfied customer! Here is The Saturday Market Trail. One Saturday, lots of great market experiences.

Late morning market action this Saturday began in Hoxton, so where better to start the journey than Hoxton Street Market, in Hackney N1. Currently ongoing positive change, I've been frequenting the top of Hoxton Street more lately due to the arrival of the Hoxton Bakery. The Hoxton loaf and scrumptious sausage rolls keep me coming back. This morning i continued my journey through Hoxton Street market and was delighted to see the new array of food stalls selling fresh produce and serving up tasty bites. One stall that was proving popular brought the simplicity of fresh eggs. 

£1.45 for half a dozen Norfolk whites, no wonder folk were queuing!

It should be noted that you can't even get a pack of battery farm eggs from the local Tesco Metro for less than £1.80. That's what markets are all about!

Another Hoxton Street favourite of mine is Anderson's Bakery, so i was delighted to see them spilling out of the shop, running their own market stall. I was happy to pick up to scotch pies and what a great Sunday supper they made.

 

Anderson's Bakery and the Hoxton Bakery at Hoxton Street Market

Once Hoxton Street Market was complete i continued to cycle down Hoxton Street to Old Street. Destination- Old Spitalfields Market. Today is is a shrine to Africa where the African Market is running every 4th Saturday of the month. I was met by a fantastic collage of African prints, colours and gleaming faces. It was a delight to see Old Spitalfields Market celebrate African. 

The African Market at Old Spitalfields, E1

If you like African prints, colours and culture, then this is definitely the place for you. Although prints prevail, the different traders all had their unique identities and offerings. The gentlemen below from Lekan was kind enough to send me away with a free sample of his raw shea butter. A lush and ethical product. The adorable rag dolls (right) were the making of Anaisarts.

Traders at The African Market, Old Spitalfields, E1

I also couldn't resist the handmade crafts of Cameroon and had to walk away with this purse from Botilam. A steal at £20. Apparently Paul Smith were selling the exact same ones for a few hundred!

No trip to Old Spitalfields Market on a Saturday would be complete without a visit to the very special Flavourtown Bakery. There gourmet cupcakes really are to die for. The best i've ever tasted! 

Flavourtown Bakery, Gourmet Cupcakes. Old Spitalfields Market, E1

Walked away with a peanut butter delight as well as their Facebook freebie of the week - Hazlenut Dipper! Yes, you heard it here first. Join their Facebook fanpage and get a free cup cake when you visit them! They do a different flavour every week.

If you want to share your weekend market trail with us, then we'd love to hear from you. 

Love shopping at London's Markets? Join us at www.ilovemarkets.co.uk

Katie Ingham, I Love Markets