Fla<\/b>mingo Market Place is the fresh,\u00a0<\/b>new concept store in Puerto\u00a0<\/b>Banus<\/b>, where you can get the pick of the best labels from the trendiest, hippest brands from the U<\/b>S<\/b>, Australia, London and Europe.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Marbella Rocks\u00a0<\/b>spoke exclusively to\u00a0<\/b>Carla\u00a0<\/b>Melus<\/b>, stylist and o<\/b>wner of Flamingo Market Place<\/b>\u00a0on her chic store<\/b>.<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
When did y<\/b>ou come up with the concept of Flamingo Market P<\/b>lace<\/b>?<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u00a0had\u00a0this project\u00a0in mind since I was\u00a0very\u00a0young, maybe 13 or 14. I always talked to my Mum about opening something where young people, and\u00a0young-minded people could find everything they want.\u00a0So that is why I went to college and studied fashion, to do that.<\/p>\n
And what did you study in college?<\/b><\/p>\n
I did a bit\u00a0of\u00a0fashion marketing and then\u00a0moved onto\u00a0fashion styling.<\/p>\n
Who\u00a0<\/b>taught you the most valuable lessons in styling<\/b>?<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve\u00a0always\u00a0had a\u00a0lot of natural fashion sense\u00a0since I was really young. Then what I learnt in school was basically a lot of art, a lot of history and all that kind of stuff,\u00a0which really helps you to have more ideas. I\u00a0had really good teachers. One of them was Alexander McQueen. It was really tough actually\u00a0as I was in London when he died. I learnt a lot\u00a0through him\u00a0but it was a tough experience.<\/p>\n
And which college did you study in?<\/b><\/p>\n
I studied\u00a0one year in Paris and two years in London.<\/p>\n
What\u00a0<\/b>was it like\u00a0<\/b>studying f<\/b>ashion abroad<\/b>?<\/b><\/p>\n
Paris was amazing.\u00a0I didn\u2019t want to go to London at first. I\u00a0don\u2019t know\u00a0why\u00a0–\u00a0I just had a thing, I thought I wasn\u2019t going to like it. I used\u00a0to be into really lady-like fashion, high heels and that kind of stuff. And then when I\u00a0went to London it was really\u00a0eye opening, completely! The experience\u00a0changed\u00a0me\u00a0so much. All the street fashion\u00a0has\u00a0really influenced me for Flamingo.<\/p>\n
Do you have a lot of American influences in your fashion?<\/b><\/p>\n
American fashion was never really a big thing but\u00a0now I think fashion is\u00a0so influenced by music. All the young people want to wear\u00a0what\u00a0the singers are wearing and\u00a0what\u00a0they see in their\u00a0videos. So obviously that is why I buy\u00a0a lot of\u00a0my collections in the States, because people always want to wear what\u00a0Rihanna\u2019s\u00a0wearing, what Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s\u00a0wearing.<\/p>\n
Would you say\u00a0<\/b>your collections are\u00a0<\/b>slightly more risky<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/b>outrageous?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
There are\u00a0so many fashion brands\u00a0nowadays\u00a0anyway, and you don\u2019t want to sell what other shops are selling\u00a0so yeah, definitely, you want to be a bit more risky. I always like to have fun and to play around and stuff.<\/p>\n
Is\u00a0<\/b>colour<\/b>\u00a0a big influence as well?<\/b><\/p>\n
Yeah a big influence.\u00a0Obviously\u00a0now\u00a0minimalism\u00a0is really big, but I don\u2019t like only black and white.\u00a0I like\u00a0minimalism\u00a0but with colour.<\/p>\n
What are the ten top brands that you do in your store?<\/b><\/p>\n
Most of the brands I\u00a0carry\u00a0are Australian. I think Australian\u00a0fashion is really big now. Before it was maybe behind, but now they are doing amazingly. It is good quality and a good price and really fashion forward stuff.<\/p>\n
What are the big fashion shows and exhibitions you go to as a stylist\/ buyer?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
I go to Agenda\u00a0for street wear, and then there is also Capsule\u00a0in Las Vegas\u00a0which is more fashion forward, more contemporary. There are\u00a0also the regular shows.\u00a0With most of the brands I have,\u00a0I am the only one who has them in Spain.\u00a0Even if you go to Madrid you will not find most of the clothes I have. I always try to find the brands that are not here so\u00a0we are\u00a0exclusive and different. That does not mean that it is going to be more expensive though.<\/p>\n
What are the price points?<\/b><\/p>\n
Well you can find T-shirts from\u00a0\u20ac35 to\u00a0\u20ac40\u00a0and then obviously the more fancy dresses are maybe like\u00a0\u20ac300 which is not too expensive\u00a0either. But they are exclusive;\u00a0you are not going to find anyone wearing the same dress.<\/p>\n
With regards to styling do you do anything other than the shop styling?<\/b><\/p>\n
Not yet. I would love to\u00a0though.<\/p>\n
Do you have plans to launch online?<\/b><\/p>\n
Yeah,\u00a0Flamingo\u00a0Market Place\u00a0is now one year old and we are launching the online shop pretty soon.\u00a0We are trying to go global because we have a lot of customers that are foreigners. The thing is everybody that comes in is amazed, and that is something that really makes me happy.<\/p>\n
Did you design the whole shop?<\/b><\/p>\n
I designed everything. Well with a friend, an interior designer.\u00a0It was my concept though.<\/p>\n
Would you ever con<\/b>sider launching a beauty side to<\/b>\u00a0the shop?<\/b><\/p>\n
We want to do that,\u00a0because we work with\u00a0nail technician\u00a0Ghetto\u00a0Nailz\u00a0and she is amazing.\u00a0She has so much potential,\u00a0she can do everything. I am always up for expanding and doing different things. That was my idea when I was younger, to have\u00a0a place where you can find\u00a0literally\u00a0everything. Where you can transform yourself.\u00a0Even have DJs maybe, I have to do that\u00a0during\u00a0one\u00a0summer!<\/p>\n
Where do you see the Flamingo brand in five years<\/b>\u2019<\/b>\u00a0time?<\/b><\/p>\n
Global. I would love to open in Miami, and maybe Dubai.<\/p>\n
You have a beautiful accent Carla, w<\/b>here did you grow up?<\/b><\/p>\n
I grew up in up\u00a0in the\u00a0north of Spain. I left Spain when I was 15 and studied in Ireland for a year, and in Switzerland for two years. Then I studied in New York and Barcelona before my main fashion marketing and styling qualifications\u00a0in Paris and London.<\/p>\n
Who is your shop aimed for?<\/b><\/p>\n
My concept was\u00a0fashion for the children of the people that shop in\u00a0Gucci,\u00a0they don\u2019t want to buy there.\u00a0They want to buy somewhere else, something a bit\u00a0more hip.<\/p>\n
Your Mum is also involved with Flamingo<\/b>,\u00a0<\/b>do you work well together<\/b>?<\/b><\/p>\n
We are partners!\u00a0She\u2019s been helping me in fashion for a long time. She\u00a0used to own\u00a0a store\u00a0too,\u00a0it was\u00a0a big department store, a\u00a0really long\u00a0time ago.\u00a0She helped me a lot, she\u2019s my support\u00a0and\u00a0she is\u00a0always\u00a0there\u00a0for me. I choose the clothes and she gives me her opinion.<\/p>\n
Who is your fashion role model?<\/b><\/p>\n
I love\u00a0Rihanna, but I don\u2019t know if I would call her my fashion model.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Flamingo Market Place is the fresh,\u00a0new concept store in Puerto\u00a0Banus, where you can get the pick of the best labels from the trendiest, hippest brands from the US, Australia, London and Europe.\u00a0 Marbella Rocks\u00a0spoke exclusively to\u00a0Carla\u00a0Melus, stylist and owner of Flamingo Market Place\u00a0on her chic store.\u00a0 When did you come up with the concept of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,201],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion","category-interviews"],"yoast_head":"\n