We recently connected with Sunny Shonto Melet and have shared our conversation below.
Sunny Shonto , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
That’s a hard question, I love and respect both of my parents so much and for different reasons. Both of my parents worked in fashion. They met working at RRL in the 90s. They were more or less the black sheep of their families and the free spirit creative types. Neither of my parents went to college and that was something they wanted me to pursue but never pushed me to do. Something I believe they “did right” was giving me my independence. I am an only child and grew up having imaginary tea parties and playing dolls. They never handed me an iPad or forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I took the subway alone starting at the age of 12 to school in the mornings, it was something I didn’t fear but rather embraced, they gave me the tools, imagination and the ability to think on my own from an exceptionally young age. With the exception of traveling and life experience they have taught me everything whether that was learning from their mistakes or growing from them. A lesson I think about often is from my dad he has owned a vintage clothing store for over 20 years called Melet Mercantile, As a family our vacations were more or less buying trips all over the world. I was always included in the decision making as was my mom. I liked to think she was his muse and seeing that was inspiring. Whenever I am sourcing he always tell me only buy what you LOVE, and that makes decisions really easy for me when I am picking. I can genuinely say I love every piece that I source, which eventually becomes a foot note in the story once it hits the shelves of my store!
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.
I grew up in New York City Art and artists was something that was never not apart of my life, it was curated into my everyday from riding the subway, to walking in central park to eating my favorite pasta at Bar Pitti. My apartment growing up was adorned with a thoughtful collection of photography, books and objects collected from around the world. In the past I have been fortunate enough to have collaborated with Peter Beard, Julian Schnabel, Bruce Weber and Walter Iooss. Growing up between the city and the ocean (Montauk) gave me a sense of two completely different yet same worlds. Traveling is one of my largest sources of happiness and inspiration.
My mothers closest was a treasure chest of good taste, My fathers businesses are a constant source of inspiration. My room was my first art project, it was a space I was able to call mine and with that let my younger selfs imagination soar.
I always loved to pick out my own outfits. I knew from a young age that fashion was my thing, at the age of nine I interviewed people who I found interesting at Fashion week for the blog Guest of a Guest, I had a spunky attitude and was afraid of nothing. I always loved street art and riding the subway I believe brought that out in me. Basquiat was someone I looked up to especially as a young artist trying to make it in New York. When I was 13 I secretly got a stick and poke tattoo of his signature crown. At that time none of my friends knew or cared who he was. I never wanted a cherry or a butterfly tattoo but a piece of art. That was always what separated me from others.
Growing up around parents who owned and operated our family business, I understood how much hard work, discipline, and careful curation it took. When I opened Pre Loved it only felt right to look at it from a point of a representation of who I am and all that I have learned from life experiences. It’s a constant evolution of myself and what I find cool in the moment. When I am traveling, each season I bring to life my imagination and all that I have learned. I see my business as a platform.
I have spent the last two years traveling the world and finding clothing, artifacts, art, books you name it that spoke to me. Something I know that sets Pre Loved apart from other vintage shops is having things that you cannot find in your day to day, pieces that have travelled thousands of miles to be apart of a story, that story being my shop. I hope that anyone who comes to Pre Loved can feel the energy and intention of my travels- like they are stepping into a Medina in Morocco or strutting through a Flea market in Paris, whatever catches their eye and unlocks and memory or a piece they can relate back to a happy moment in their life.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
I started working at a really young age with a lesson I learned. When I was about six and I started asking my parents for money to buy candy, barbies, slime whatever it was in that moment their answer 70% of the time was no, until one day they handed me three large totes of hand woven cotton bracelets, made from the string of a hammock. They bought these as my first investment, instead of them giving me money they gave me the tool to make the money, so I understood the value of a dollar. I started selling bracelets at the beach down the street from my home. Ditch Plains in Montauk, New York. Touristy in the summer and filled with families, weekenders etc… my bracelet selling business was a success. Walking up and down the beaches with bracelets in hand, bleach blonde hair and a side of sass. This was way before Venmo or Zelle, so I was an all cash one woman show. The tourists on the beach thought I was adorable and hilarious because I hustled and hustled till everyone had a bracelet. If I saw a family of four you best believe every member of that family was getting a bracelet and bringing some home for their friends too. I liked the idea of money but also seeing people wearing something I sold. I liked sharing these bracelets with people, I wanted everyone in town to have them and say they were from me. Along with that I started working on an airstream that operated as a food truck selling fresh lobster rolls on the beach. I helped run that truck and sold lobster rolls to hungry surfers for two seasons. It is one of the many highlights, a time I learned more than I knew in the moment. It was just me and Zach (The Owner) and sometimes an employee that could never keep up and eventually traded in the feeling of sweating on an airstream for a day of surfing. That was the start of my professional career. I never went to college and invested my time in working cash in hand jobs and odd jobs. My capital was my savings that I didn’t touch till I was 18. In summer 2020 I worked at Cynthia Rowley trying to gain a better understanding of fashion or so I thought. It was in that time I decided I wanted to be my own boss and be the Sunny that I was at six years old!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
My dedication to careful curation!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.freepeople.com/rose-bowl-flea-market/?sort=tile.product.newestColorDate&order=Descending&vis_nav=1
- Instagram: @prelovedmtk , @sunnymelet
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSWCiuElqe8