S9 Ep19 NOT-A-NORMAL SHOW: Lale Boz, founder, creative director and interior designer - on hosting a market at Barney’s for vintage dealers, artists, indie designers, and 10,000 guests!

This episode is brought to you by Classic Coco, thank you for making Pre-Loved Podcast possible! https://classiccoco.com/ 

This is the space where we  talk about all things vintage, secondhand and pre-loved across the fashion space! And for new listeners, or longtime pals, to follow along with all things thrift, vintage, rad, retro, and sustainable, you can find me Emily Stochl, across the internet as @emilymstochl. Come hang out I’d love to chat with you! 

On today’s show, we’re chatting with Lale Boz, the founder of Normal NYC and the Not-A-Normal Show – which, if you’re listening to this episode live, is coming right up June 6-8 & June 13-15!

Not-A-Normal Show is a large-scale, immersive marketplace show, featuring vintage dealers, artists, and indie designers.  It’s hosted quarterly in New York and seasonally in Los Angeles—with more cities coming soon! And these June shows are both the 1-year anniversary AND the Season Finale of Not-A-Normal Market at the former Barney’s New York flagship department store in Chelsea – where over 10,000 attendees walk through the door each event.

Rewinding it all back, you’ll hear how this epic event all came to be! Born in Istanbul, Lale is now a bi-coastal creative designer between New York and LA, prioritizing design, sustainability, and community in all she does.

She’s first and foremost known for sharing the interior design work, including the design of her first Brooklyn apartment on social media, which kicked off the whole Normal journey in 2020.

 All this, and so much more on this week’s show, but I’ll let her tell it!  –  let’s dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [3:34] Growing up in Istanbul in a family of sustainable fashion manufacturers and how that shaped her entrepreneurial spirit
• [8:04] The apartment that started it all: Normal became a place to share her interior design journey.
• [11:06] How she applies sustainability into her work and life.
• [12:57] The viral estate sale that brought 2,400 people to her Brooklyn apartment and taught her about community power, kicking off her event production work.
• [24:57] How Not-a-Normal Market landed at the iconic Barney’s flagship department store in NYC.
• [28:47] What she learned in her first year at Barney's: crisis management, leadership, and building stakeholder relationships
• [34:01] How consistency and transparency with vendors built unshakeable loyalty.
• [38:19] Why she sees endings as beginnings, and the grand finale of the Barney’s location!
• [44:38] A “blueprint for the future of retail” – connecting emerging designers and creatives with diverse communities
• [48:38] Her advice for new vendors doing their first markets this summer.
• [50:54] The outfits Lale plans to wear to the upcoming markets (including a 2002 Gianni Versace dress!).

Don't miss the upcoming announcement for their biggest takeover yet!

EPISODE MENTIONS: 

• Normal New York
• @normal.nyc
• Lale Boz
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