Shop to support local artists at Market Collective
Kari Pedersen
Arts Editor
The six-year anniversary of Market Collective took place this past weekend at Calgary’s East Village Riverwalk. Started by Angela Dione and Angel Guerra, Market Collective is a place to come together and experience local arts and culture, building the Calgary arts market.
Vendors displaying a variety of creations line a tent in East Village giving Calgarians the opportunity to find interesting ways to fill their homes, accessorize and try new things.
RAD packs use recycled denim to create unique backpacks, featured at Market Collective.
Photo courtesy: RAD packs
Local company, RAD Packs (standing for Recycle All Denim), is a company started by two brothers, Jay and Rob Heule, who chose to try their hand at backpack design. The backpacks made from recycled denim, uniquely use all pieces of the denim, (from fly to pockets) to add special touches to the packs.
“We came to Market Collective last year and we were looking for a way to get more into the Calgary market, so we got accepted and had a really successful first Market Collective,” said Jay Heule, one of the vendors.
Rob Heule says of his journey, “I thought, ‘What could I make a bag out of that will be durable and easy to come by?’, and I always did a lot of thrift shopping where they have aisles of denim so I gave it a shot.”
The rest is history according to the duo and they have been selling their unique backpacks ever since.
The brother duo feels that Market Collective is “the perfect way to bring people together, and give local artists the opportunity to sell their products and promote themselves.”
The whole event was very well organized with live music, food trucks, yoga on the river and of course, the main event of shopping.
For more information on Market Collective, or the event itself please visit marketcollective.ca. To check out RAD packs head to their website at radpacks.ca.
