By Brodie Cowburn
The Melbourne Collective Design Market is the new event taking the Mornington Peninsula by storm, attracting a crowd of locals keen to check out their high end ranges.
The indoor Design Market has only been holding events in the area for a short while, but has already been able to impress locals with their range of options. Local resident Rochelle Djokic started the project and oversees the events, saying she believes her market is offering something different to Mornington.
“Our first market was in January in Mornington. As a local I noticed that we didn’t have a lot of indoor markets; a lot of the markets are the traditional outdoor ones. I started it because I wanted to provide an indoor market for the community,” she said. “We have a high end designer range to give the community a reason not to have to trek up to the city for those brands.”
The market takes place on Wilsons Road, and showcases a wide variety of different vendors from which visitors can choose from.
“We have a huge range of makers and designers, jewellery and accessories, kids’ products, handbags, natural foods, vegan foods, skincare, and art. We pretty much cover everything,” Djokic said. “There’s something for everyone.”
By starting up the Design Market as an indoor event, Melbourne Collective hoped they might attract a wider selection of interested vendors who might have not wanted to showcase their clothes or products in an outside setting due to the possibility of bad weather.
Her plan paid off handsomely.
“I went in a bit blind,” Djokic said of the initial process of setting up her first event. “I just did it and within a couple of weeks I had the market half full. They came in pretty quick. They really wanted to get their brand out there.”
By bringing these designer brands to Mornington, local residents will no longer have to look further than their own home for those higher end products.
Melbourne Collective have placed a great focus on ensuring their products fit under the designer category, in order to separate themselves from local craft markets around the area.
Djokic also works with the vendors to make sure they are benefiting as much as they can from her market initiative.
“I wanted to give back to the store holders and give them things to enhance their business,” she said. “I’m bringing in a local photographer, Julia Green, and she’ll be doing a little photography workshop for the store owners, and helping them build their brands.”
The result of working closely with the vendors is a distinctive shopping experience for the locals of Mornington.
“People who have come to the market have come out saying ‘wow, this is really unique’,” Djokic said.
Djokic has also run design markets in the city, and is taking her market to the Royal Exhibition Building in late March next year. For those closer to home though, the next Melbourne Collective Design Market in Mornington takes place in December, just in time for Christmas shopping.
“We have a twilight Christmas market in Mornington in December” she said. “Get your shopping done without fighting the crowds, and come get something unique and different.”
Melbourne Collective’s next Mornington Design Market takes place on Friday the 15th of December 2017 at 91 Wilsons Road, Mornington, and will be open from 4pm until 8pm.
More information can be found on their website
www.themelbournecollective.net