In December, Unique Los Angeles, the country's largest independent design and gift show, was a buzzing, commercial enterprise in an otherwise languishing retail landscape. With over 300 vendors that attracted 11,000 shoppers, the holiday sale—staged over a weekend in a sleek office high-rise with panoramic views of Los Angeles—was a wide-eyed rediscovery of all things local.

Sonja Rasula, the founder of Unique Los Angeles, is arguably the new face of a growing made-in-the-USA movement. In 2008, the energetic and community-minded Los Angeles native spent the better part of the year volunteering to register voters.  When faced with having to find a job after the election, she developed the concept of a large-scale event in Los Angeles that promoted local design. Using her own savings and drawing on the diversity of her work experience in journalism and new media (she was also an interior designer on the popular TLC’s home makeover show, ‘Trading Spaces’ and HGTV’s “Home To Go”) Rasula set out to create a shopping showcase of local and independent design that “rivaled the mall.” Since its sure-footed debut in December 2008, Unique Los Angeles has doubled its attendance, becoming a model for the 21st century independent marketplace. For the $10 admission, guests get a limited edition, show-specific tote bag and enjoy a host of free services, including portraits at the ‘Oh Snap! Studios’ photo booth, Eco gift wrapping, drinks and magazines. Shoppers can even hit a series of workshops offered by designers, illustrators and writers. Of course, the ability to buy directly artisans and their teams (and in some cases from the names on the label, like fashion designer Eva Franco, who was at the most recent event and was also featured here on The Inside Source) is the real draw.

For vendors, the bi-annual design and art show is a win-win opportunity. Booth space costs a small fraction of what it does at trade shows. And selling directly to the customer offers not
only the opportunity to conduct informal customer research, but also puts money directly into a seller's pocket as opposed to selling wholesale through a traditional retail channel. The show is also a chance to move samples or old stock without having to liquidate it. “Much of the show’s success boils down to a lineup of stellar designers and their fresh and modern wares,” says Rasula.  “There are more people who apply than can take part, which allows me to really narrow-down the selection.”

Vendors Two Rabbits and Hunble at Unique Los Angeles.

The 33-year-old Rasula wears a number of hats, from securing the space for the show to writing a newsletter, updating the blog, designing logos and handling promotions. And then there’s outfitting the imposing 100,000 square foot event space. “I scour eBay for décor items that help create the mood for each show,” she says. “I know how to make a lot out of little to no budget, so I use eBay to all of the time to find great deals on things like Chinese lanterns, fabric, antique holiday ornaments, antique milk crates, old mannequin forms and furniture. Or I could consider just blowing the budget on this amazing vintage arrow sign.”

This “buy local” champion is also an avid collector and eBay shopper in her personal life. “I’m obsessed with collecting vintage typewriters, radios, vintage wallpaper, antique cups and saucers, antique glass Christmas ornaments, old interior design books and lamps” she says. More unexpectedly: "I love displaying vintage sports equipment, so I've been collecting vintage wooden golf clubs (drivers to be specific). Once I get a few more, I plan to display them standing up in a large ceramic vase in the corner of my studio. I've purchased many cool old tennis rackets on eBay, which I hang up on the walls as art." 

Pressed to explain the unifying force behing her collections, she explains that for the most part, it's all about "just stuff that is aesthetically pleasing to me... I love mid-century modern items, from furniture to radios to art.  There is, however, actually one thing that I collect on a more emotional level: antique portraits of people from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Obviously, it's not family members selling the heirlooms; something in me connects with these people who are forgotten. Each one had a history, a life, that we'll never know."

Though Rasula has always loved collecting, she turned her passion up several notches when she bought her first place ten years ago. eBay had started thriving around the same time, and "because I worked in new media and was online all-day long, I went to town! Being a designer on a TV show also helps fuel the need to find great items, and well-priced ones at that." She continues to feel drawn to eBay both for the sheer volume of merchandise and because of easy accessibility of product information. "It's easy to search and find items, as opposed to spending an entire day searching at a flea market," she says. Rasula even taught her grandmother how to use the site and signed her up for an account six years ago; now, she uses the site to buy fabric and surf for jewelry.

Rasula's antique cup and saucer collection and Christmas ornament collections, both of which include many items purchased on eBay.

Rasula reconciles her eBay obsession with Unique Los Angeles' commitment to shopping local because both show a commitment for supporting independent merchants. "To me, buying local is not just buying where you live, but is also very much about buying within and supporting the U.S. economy. When it comes to eBay, I can purchase great antiques from someone in Ohio and I know I'm supporting the buyer, the place where he/she buys packaging materials from, etc." she says.

The Unique Los Angeles spring show is scheduled for April 24-25 at the California Market Center. Meanwhile, Rasula is already planning to expand the event into other markets, including New York and Atlanta. “I’d then like to grow into other cool international cities, like Tokyo, Toronto and Berlin,” says Rasula. For someone who once worried about finding a job, she has created an extraordinary amount of work for herself. “I knew [that] in order to achieve my goals for the show—to contribute to the sustainability of the artists and to educate the masses on buying local— it needed to attract thousands and thousands,” she says. “I am passionate about teaching people the worth and value of great design and how buying local supports the local economy. All along my motto was ‘go big or go home’.”

 

Rasula's vintage radio collection (left) and the vintage Eames radio she is eyeing on eBay (buy it now price, $34.99).

Rasula is coveting vintage Star Wars wallpaper (current bid, $19.99, left) and vintage geometric wallpaper (buy it now price, approximately $28, right) to add to her vintage wallpaper collection (center).

 

Rasula would add this mid-century tiger lamp (buy it now price, $107.99, right), to her collection of vintage lamps, like the one at left.

 

**Images of Unique Los Angeles and Sonja Rasula provided by Rasula.**