We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ella Vernile, Bella Hogan, and Mariela Ferreira. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ella, Bella, Mariela below.
Hi Ella, Bella, Mariela, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
A meaningful project we completed was the first ever Noughties Market event we held in December of 2022. Living in Charlotte, we felt as though women did not have a special place at vintage markets. A majority of the vendors consisted of masculine clothing and few brands were women owned. The three of us made up a majority of the women owned vendors when we did vintage events around Charlotte. There was a lack of representation for the 2000s style of clothing we gravitated towards, yet we knew there was a rapidly growing group in Charlotte of like-minded individuals who just needed a space to shop and express their individuality. By putting our ideas together, we started a community for all individuals, creatives, artists to be seen and feel included within their community. We knew our market had to be unique and diverse in order to be successful. The best part is curating a selection of different vendors and themes for people to come dressed up and connect with other people. The market was created to bring a new shopping experience to Charlotte and has turned into a social event as well.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Noughties Market CLT was started by 3 women who each had their own vintage clothing business. We all wanted to join forces to give Charlotte a unique shopping experience as well as a social and fashion event. The three owners, Bella, Ella, and Mariela learned how detrimental the fashion industry is on our environment, and putting together our monthly market helps spread the word about sustainable clothing throughout Charlotte. Our market contains anywhere from 25+ small businesses that sell sustainable second hand clothing as well as upcycled garments and accessories. We also have a handful of makers, who design jewelry, make pottery, and anything we find unique! We are most proud of how fast we have grown, people are starting to talk about our market and recognize how awesome it is. There are a few other markets in Charlotte, but Noughties is a fashion and social event as well, people feel safe and feel like they can express themselves while meeting likeminded people.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Noughties Market Clt is on a mission to combat the environmental toll of fast fashion by providing sustainable and vintage clothing options. The fast fashion industry’s massive production contributes to millions of pounds of clothing waste in landfills, releasing hazardous gases. Our aim is to establish an engaging and interactive clothing market that promotes second-hand fashion, fostering creativity while raising awareness about the detrimental effects of brands like Shein on the planet.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
There are many rewarding aspects that come to us with being creatives and starting our market. One of them is how we can express our ideas and dreams into something that benefits not only us, but our community. Helping our small business vendors grow, learn and succeed more and more at our markets. If they recently started their business we love getting their name out there, giving them exposure and shoutouts, guiding the way for them to be successful. Another rewarding aspect is our loyal customers. Some customers have been going to every single one of our markets since day one. They will tell us how much fun our markets are and how we are starting something in charlotte that they never seen before…which melts our hearts.
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Image Credits
Personal photo submission (film photo with dates on the top right): taken by Claire Hambrick Blue skies colorful photo with greenery in the additional photos file: taken by Courtney Cheatham