Lifestyle -> Living Ind

Art & Fleas

The place to find vintage clothing and jewelry, Lafayette’s newest flea market piggybacks ArtWalk. By Erin Z. Bass


Photo of Twila Trahan by Robin May

“This is a different kind of art, but it’s art,” says Twila Trahan about her addition to Lafayette’s ArtWalk. Art & Fleas is a flea market-type venue for handmade crafts, home décor items and vintage clothing and jewelry, minus the fleas of course. A fashion design graduate from UL Lafayette, Trahan started out making clothing and selling it on popular craft website etsy.com. She attended a similar type of market in Brooklyn, New York, last winter and decided Lafayette needed its own.

Since April, fellow crafters and vintage jewelry and clothing sellers have been gathering along with her in the space next to The French Press. A total of 10-12 vendors change from month to month, setting up tables in the space for their wares and taking credit cards by iPhone.

Past sellers have included T-shirt designer Parish Ink, Joli Pétale hairpieces and SkyBlue clothing. The August market featured Lacy Dupre’s nutria fur jewelry, designer bed headboards created by Allie Perrodin and plenty of vintage jewelry, some priced as low as $5.

Trahan also sets up shop, selling her vintage clothing, from fur coats to silk slips and feather hairpieces. She’s working as a fashion intern for denim company Current Elliott in Los Angeles, which means plenty of opportunities to shop rummage and sidewalk sales for items that can be brought back to Lafayette on the second Saturday of each month.

“Our criteria are it has to be handmade or vintage items,” says Trahan about the market. “There’s a lot of crafters in the area looking for a place to sell, and a lot of customers looking for these kind of items.”

Art & Fleas has almost outgrown its current space, and Trahan is looking to expand to a second location downtown. Keep an eye out for her alternative art offerings at this weekend’s ArtWalk, and you might score a one-of-a-kind piece that doesn’t hang on the wall.

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written by Lacey Dupre , November 03, 2011 - 12:07 pm

If you're looking for locally-made, Nutria fur jewelry and want to learn more about the use of this fine fur, please visit: www.laceydu.com. A portion of sales goes to coastal restoration efforts!

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