DaWanda Backstage

I made a trip to Dublin last week for a little “roadshow”, to promote DaWanda at a selection of design markets that took place in the city; to meet the organisers and artists and designers taking part there and get a feel for what’s going on with the creative community in Ireland! For my trip, I was equipped with some beautiful DaWanda Sample Packages and my new bff, Vera*

Here is a general idea of what each of the DaWanda Sample Packs contained:

I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to the amazing and hardworking DaWanda members who submitted beautiful samples and business cards from their DaWanda shop for the DaWanda Sample Packages this time around! This means you, Lertsis, Delavalle, Jennybridger, Wienerpapp, Siebenmorgen, Labakoff, Eleanorot. (Also included in the sample packs – Carot & Rosarosenbaum.)

And thank you for the lovely well wishes, I really appreciated those, thank you very much! It was really fantastic to feel the support from the DaWanda community.

On Saturday and Sunday I visited three design and fashion markets which took place in Dublin city. Curved Street market is a great market which has just started on a once a month basis, set up by Sorcha Kenny. It’s a lovely cosy market to browse around, situated in the cultural centre of the city, Temple Bar (at the Filmbase venue). You can find really beautiful work from amazing artists that are taking part in this market – from photography, to textile and fashion design and original art work.

Some of the artists I met that day included Annette Flynn, with her beautiful photography:

and Audrey Keiran, below, who has since set up on DaWanda at Pretty Sweet Designs! You can spot some of her gorgeous aprons and quirky stationary in the picture. I picked up some of Audrey’s hand drawn cards that day. Audrey’s work is now available in her DaWanda shop!

Curved Str. Market was probably my favourite market, I nearly lost my voice by the time I left I spent so much time talking – everybody there was so nice and friendly and just really interested and excited to learn about DaWanda. The Sample Packages were accepted with squeals of delight and admiration and our new poster was already on the wall before I arrived with the real thing! (I also got to chat with one half of Fashion Filosofy team, the street fashion blog based in Dublin. Watch our for Fashion Filosophy on DaWanda coming soon!).

You can get in touch with Sorcha about the Curved Str. Market at this email address.

The Design Mart at Cow’s Lane was my next stop, which is part of a “market heaven” in another corner of Temple Bar. Every Saturday a curated selection of artists and designers share the beautiful Cow’s Lane. The Design Mart is a fantastic place to spend an afternoon and find some really extraordinary and unique artists. The set up is very well thought out, with sturdy protective marquees at each stand, so even on a typical rainy Irish day you can enjoy yourself!

This is Fiona Archibald, who’s full time job as an art teacher obviously complements her work nicely as a fashion designer for her Fi Fi La Rue clothing. As you can see from how bundled up Fiona was, and the beautiful dress on her mannequin swaying in the wind, it was quite a blustery day!

At the Design Mart in Cow’s Lane, I also met Miss Dish, aka Natalie, who was delighted to hear about DaWanda and has since set up her lovely Miss Dish jewellery boutique, have a look!

My final market stop that weekend of my very own “market heaven” was at the Loft, a beautiful and spacious spot with beautiful wood flooring, high ceilings and choc full of very unique fashion delights. Organised by Kate Nolan, a very dynamic figure in the fashion industry in Ireland. A fashion designer and stylist, Kate not only runs her own label, but is also behind an exciting ethical fashion campaign, Fashion Evolution which will launch in Dublin later this month, and is the only fashion designer in Ireland who uses certified Fair Trade clothing. It was very exciting to talk with her – I made sure Kate received a DaWanda Sample Package, and she was really impressed with the fine work!

You can get in touch with Kate about the Loft Market at this email address
And I have to tell you about Aaran Murphy, and her Curiouser & Curiouser scarves. Scarves with a “twist” you might say. The concept is really cool and I won’t give it away, but you can see for yourself Aaran is wearing one. I picked one up that day, and i can tell you it is near impossible to get it off me, it’s so cosy and comfy to wear! I hope we will see her on Dawanda soon!

I was really lucky on Sunday and got the chance to meet up with Natalie from Design Undercover, a design blog based in Dublin. I was so happy that I could personally give Natalie a DaWanda Sample Package, it was really exciting to introduce her to DaWanda! You can read her post on Design Undercover about our meeting here!

Natalie wrote a design guide for Dublin that was featured on Design Sponge last week, and also recently prompted an open discussion on decor8 posing the question, What do you do when you don’t know what to do?

Also on the itinerary for the trip were visits to art & design universities including the National College of Art & Design, Institute of Art, Design & Technology, & Griffith College to deliver promotional posters and flyers and meet with faculty staff and students. I gave a talk to some first year fashion students at Griffith about showcasing their work online and the possibilities that await at DaWanda. Watch this space!

It was a great time in Dublin, and very exciting to be the one to deliver the news about DaWanda. I hope I will be back again soon and will let you all know when the plans are finalised for the next collection of Sample Packages. Thank you very much to those who are still sending us in samples, they are all being taken care of and kept safe for the next round!

*Oh! And let me introduce one of the latest additions to the DaWanda, Vera! I couldn’t have made this trip to Dublin without her : ) You might see her popping up on DaWanda from now on!

(Artwork by Maximilian Combuechen)

See you back at DaWanda!

xo

Eliz