After 5 years of curating stunning issues on Instagram, I Cannot Afford This However Perhaps She Can has developed into one thing new. The brainchild of artwork director George Wu and illustrator Malika Favre, the favored feed is now accompanied by a Bazaar… a everlasting house for all of the objects they’ve cherished and shared over the previous few years.
The on-line listing options shoppable gems, bringing collectively greater than 300 handpicked items from over 90 unbiased manufacturers and makers, all chosen with the identical discerning eye that made the unique feed a cult favorite.
You’ll be able to anticipate all the things from homeware, style and artwork to tech, video games, and even the occasional misfit. For individuals who do not have time to seek out wonderful presents or treats, it is the reply to all their prayers.
From fleeting posts to an enduring archive
As George and Malika clarify, “An Instagram put up lasts 24 hours. We consider these beauties deserve a everlasting house. So we quietly constructed them one.”
The Bazaar is each a celebration of design and a playful response to the fleeting nature of social media. Each object featured is now in the stores in a curated market that displays the duo’s shared style and humour: “the long-distance buying listing of a wannabe millionaire and a would-be millionaire”.
Very like all the things they do, the pair’s strategy to constructing the platform was private. Earlier this 12 months, they surveyed their followers… and a stonking 84% mentioned they needed a web based store. That suggestions set the venture in movement.
Over the subsequent six months, they personally reached out to each model and maker, explaining their idea, handpicking merchandise, and organising bespoke affiliate preparations. It was a gradual, considerate course of constructed on care and curiosity, but in addition real connection.
The result’s a listing that spans all the things from established names like Bitossi Ceramiche, Gestalten Books, Mira Mikati and Donna Wilson, to smaller independents resembling Basic Berlin, Maison Balzac, and Nik Bentel Studio. All of those artistic souls are united by daring, well-designed, and fantastically crafted work.
A clear, affiliate-powered mannequin
The Bazaar makes use of a traditional affiliate mannequin, however with full transparency. There are not any itemizing charges, paid placements or preferential remedy… simply sincere curation. Every merchandise hyperlinks on to the model’s personal web site, and if a sale occurs via one among their hyperlinks, the duo earns a small fee at no additional value to the client.
It is a clear, honest system that rewards style and belief whereas maintaining the main target firmly on nice design.
And true to their unbiased spirit, Wu and Favre are launching the Bazaar organically. There is no advertising and marketing machine or PR push behind it – simply them, their group, and the (dreaded) algorithm.
If you happen to love what you see, they merely ask you to share it with your pals, colleagues, and inventive buddies.
What’s subsequent
That is solely the start. The Bazaar will proceed to develop, with new finds added because the pair discovers them “within the wild”. You can too join their e-newsletter by way of the hyperlink of their bio to get first dibs on new arrivals and gross sales.
Since launching I Cannot Afford This However Perhaps She Can in 2020, Wu and Favre have constructed one among Instagram’s most beloved design communities, now boasting over 324,000 followers and 20 million natural month-to-month views.
What started as a enjoyable experiment between two buddies has grow to be a thriving area that celebrates creativity, magnificence, and friendship. The brand new Bazaar appears like a pure subsequent step. And it is proof {that a} sensible concept, and a little bit of onerous work, can develop into one thing tangible and lasting.
Discover the Bazaar and observe their adventures on Instagram: @icantaffordthisbutmaybeshecan.
