Flea Lounges

Lounges in the city have been hosting designers with an array of materials. High Spirits for instance recently rolled out the carpet for a Goan flea market theme on a couple of Sundays. “It wasn’t just the stalls that were put up. We also had tarot card readers,fire dancers,live bands,drum circles where volunteers were picked up from the audience to play drums and so on. The ladies got to do all the shopping they wanted and the men had a good time sipping on their drinks. The people were dressed as they would in Goa,” says Khodu Irani of High Spirits adding that the real feel of Goa can only be brought through introducing some other activities along with the flea market to give it a colourful,carnival-like feel.

While other clubs and lounges are preparing to host this concept,a flea market was also recently set up at Tertulia and saw an enthusiastic response.

Uzma Poonawalla,who had organised the event at Tertulia adds,“This is not just a flea market. It’s an urban flea market. When I conceptualised the idea,what was more important was the kind of audience I was targeting. I did not want anybody and everybody to walk in. I designed this event keeping the elite class in mind. So the things that were sold were designer and priced high too”.

Events like these are not just another excuse to party but also to socialise in an unconventional way. The designers displaying their wares were satiated with their need of reaching out. Gunit Singh,a Mumbai-based designer and owner of the label Camala,who had put up her stall at Terttulia says,“The great thing about the idea was that people could buy everything under one roof very comfortably. I couldn’t possibly get such a response at the Goa flea market in a month. This is a great medium to launch your label and should seriously be considered as a platform”.

But for the city based designer Kalpana Philip who displayed her collection at Casanova as well as High Spirits,Goa flea market would have fetched her more business than the urban imitation. “The people who visit the flea market come for shopping as opposed to this event where people came mostly to have a good time,”she says

Alifiya Pratapgharwala had a store at High Spirits where she kept the prices right out of the flea market. “That’s the whole point of setting up an event like this. I wanted to create a mini Goa,and that’s what we did,” says Pratapgharwala.

This new concept has been going down very well with the buyers who’ve been having a good time shopping and socialising. “It was a perfect Sunday. The food stalls were a big hit and I loved the carnival-like atmosphere,” adds Ruchita Daswani,a buyer at one of the flea markets.