If you’re in Montauk this Saturday and looking for something to do between 10 am to 4 pm, you must check out and support the female small business owners at the Montauk Female Flea behind the beloved Joins Cafe.
Both female-run small business owners, Sunny Melet and Grace Brosnan, created the Montauk Female Flea to bring together a community of inspirational female artists to sell their products in a flea market-type environment. The merchandise ranges from a wide variety of curated vintage clothing, handmade jewelry, art, and more!
Meet the vendors and coordinators:
Sunny Melet, Pre Loved Montauk (Vendor and Co-coordinator)
Montauk local 20-year-old Sunny Melet is the proud owner of Pre Loved Montauk and one of the co-coordinators of the Montauk Female Flea. Sunny sells and distributes a wide variety of vintage fashion that she hands curates from all over the world and accessories made by upcoming female-run brands focused on sustainability.
During her time in quarantine in 2020, Sunny began her business originally as a closet cleanout selling her unwanted clothing on Instagram. To her surprise, all her listings sold, and Pre Loved Montauk was born. As of 2021, she opened up her store and is now in her third season of having a physical space.
Raised by a father in the fashion industry, Sunny was inspired to start her business after years of traveling the globe with her parents on their buying trips. Although her teachers took issue with missing school, “I feel like I learned so much more by traveling, going flea markets, and meeting so many diverse genres of dealers. I learned so much by doing that I think I was predisposed to loving it and knew I would want to continue this with my own set of eyes and ideals while continuing furthering my education.”
On what it means to be a female small business owner Sunny says, “there is a kind of responsibility that comes with it which is providing for a community more than myself and being integrated into what’s going on in Montauk as well as the fashion industry.” Sunny continues, “I started this business with the hope that it would inspire people like myself and younger generations to just go for it and pursue their dreams of becoming a business owner.”
Visit Sunny’s store at 805 Montauk Highway between June – October or shop for items @prelovedmtk on Instagram. Sunny is also a vendor on the Rose Bowl Marketplace in partnership with Free People, where she has monthly drops of her favorite items.
Grace Brosnan, Hardwear (Vendor and Co-coordinator)
19-year-old Grace Brosnan was born and raised in Montauk and owns her brand Hardwear, where she sells timeless vintage clothing and handmade jewelry. During the off-season, Grace attends college in Europe, where she sources most of her items. Three years ago, Grace started her business during her junior year of high school, initially selling handmade bathing suits on her Instagram.
Hardware was born out of Grace’s love for, “having a creative outlet that was completely my own with no one telling me what to do or how to do it. Hardwear has changed so much since it first started and is still changing; I like to think that my brand evolves as I evolve.”
For Grace, being a female small business owner makes her feel powerful and courageous. “It makes me feel like I can do anything, and it’s so empowering to be able to look back at what I’ve created and feel truly proud of it.”
You can shop Grace’s vintage collection year-round on her website https://hardwear.studio/ or @gracebrosnanfanaccount on Instagram.
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