Bleeding Love. Professional Graduate Project for Boston University. 2023-2024.
Alessandra Carpinito. Written by Gioia Guarino
Photos taken by Gioia Guarino & provided by Alessandra Carpinito
If you happen to attend any Boston vendor markets, chances are you will find Bleeding Love’s booth. Alessandra Carpinito is a business owner, founder, designer, and creator who vends at pop-up markets around the city, from Boston proper locations to Central Square to a relatively new vendor location, Watertown Yards.
Before Boston, Carpinito lived in Los Angeles and New York City, cities with a more conspicuous fashion scene. Carpinito sells upcycled vintage threads and antique watches. Her brand, Bleeding Love, is sold at markets, on Depop, and through social media.
Moving from Los Angeles to Manhattan to Boston seems backward in the fashion world, Carpinito admitted. Moving back to her home state of Massachusetts was meant to be a stop along the way. She expected to return to Boston, save money, and relocate to another city with a more prominent fashion mecca. Plans changed.
Here, Carpinito is seen sipping on an iced coffee topped with cold foam as she runs her booth solo at Watertown Yards's Found vendor pop-up market.
Los Angeles 
Carpinito is a Massachusetts native who grew up just outside of Boston proper. Her childhood dream of becoming a fashion stylist ultimately landed Carpinito in Los Angeles, where she attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising to study visual communications.
While studying in Los Angeles, Carpinito worked predominately in the fashion industry, from graphic design to e-commerce merchandising, personal styling, and photography. “Whatever creates a brand, I’ve done,” said Carpinito.
She worked in the fashion industry for companies such as Nasty Gal, Forever 21, Trunk Club, Wasteland and Nordstrom. Additionally, Carpinito spent a significant portion of her early career as an Assistant Celebrity Fashion Stylist.
Carpinito lived in Los Angeles for nearly five years before moving to New York City during the pandemic.
After gaining career experience as a fashion stylist and various spaces of the industry, Carpinito took a step back from her adolescent goals. “I discovered that despite my versatility, the profession ultimately wasn’t aligned with my career aspirations and personal values,” Carpinito said.
New York, New York
“I lived in New York during the pandemic. Which I loved. It was awesome."
“When I lived in New York, I just think I was in the process of kind of like discovering what I wanted in life, like going through kind of like a discovery phases, I would say.”
“If you're in your early 20s, or mid 20s, and you’re up and coming, it’s a tough city. It will kick you in the ass. I mean, it’s fun, like, don’t get me wrong.”
Carpinito experienced the big apple during the pandemic, allowing her to experience the city with cheaper rent prices and fewer people. She loved it.
While living in Brooklyn, Carpinito freelanced and worked at a vintage store, The Attic Vintage.
Living in New York City exposed Carpinito to a large thrifting culture and inspired her to repurpose clothing.
“New York is so densely populated with thrifting. You can find anything you want there,” Carpinito explained.
Despite the endless fashion opportunities, it was a tough city to break through, financially and mentally. Carpinito knew a change was necessary, bringing her back home to Boston after two years.
BostonCarpinito found herself hitting a roadblock. She quickly realized there was not much of an existing fashion scene to the extent of her previous residences. Regardless, she continued to pursue her passion for jewelry design and repurposing threads.
A small jewelry store in Harvard Square exposed Carpinito to the history of jewelry and the trade principally. She specialized in antique jewelry and engagement rings featuring antique diamonds.
Carpinito’s passion for design and fashion began from an early age. She learned to tailor her clothing from her Italian-immigrant grandmother and mastered the craft through friends out west. Carpinito sells tailored clothing straight from her closet and reworks vintage jewelry pieces she finds thrifting.
“Ok, I should probably start selling these,” thought Carpinito as she began to create more pieces.
Carpinito first began selling her designs on the e-commerce platform, Depop. “I created a Depop account and started off with the trend of rosette neckties. Pretty much every color and style,” Carpinito shared. Later on, Carpinito would begin to sell these designs at vendor markets, an emerging sector of the Boston creative economy.
Carpinito’s early designs, rosette neckties at her first Boston market, the Brighton Bazaar.
Carpinito’s jewlery displayed in her family home.
The Studio.
Carpinito has been looking for a makeshift studio space since returning home. She can often be found creating anywhere from her family home outside of the city to her apartment in Brighton. Because she is creating full-time, she knew an affordable studio space would be the perfect way to work outside the house.
Carpinito began leasing a studio space in Allston among fellow artists and designers in November. The studio is beaming with overhead lights and bright windows overlooking the Boston Landing. The trains shake the black and white floors, and Carpinito can hear neighboring artists from above. Despite the noise, it is the perfect space for Carpinito to create custom jewelry pieces, shoot content, and organize her latest thrift curation for upcoming markets.
Pictured here, Carpinito is creating a custom-designed necklace for a Depop customer from the Midwest. Thanks to e-commerce platforms, Carpinito can expand her customer base outside of Boston.
MARKETS.
Carpinito mainly attends Found and Brighton Bazaar markets.When Carpinito moved into her Brighton apartment, she began to apply to vendor markets around the city, from Open Newbury to the Brighton Bazaar to the Found Markets.
She set up her booth at the Brighton Bazaar for the first time in May 2023 while selling at Open Newbury for two years.
Before vending, Carpinito applied for permits through the state of Massachusetts to pop up solo streetside. The permit process is expensive, Carpinito explained, and it is easier to apply through a permit-approved vendor market than on her own.Over the past year, Carpinito has applied to numerous Boston vendor markets. What she learned quickly is it is a competitive and expanding market.
At first, most of her applications were denied by more established markets. For a while, the only consistent market she would attend was the Brighton Bazaar, established 7 years ago and serves the Allston-Brighton community.
Her consistent booth presence at the Bazaar pop-ups allowed Alessandra to build a customer base and eventually move onto markets around the city.
Select Markets
Carpinito’s first booth space at the Brighton Bazaar. May 2023.
Scenes from the Brighton Bazaar in August 2024.
An emerging trend for many established vendors is to open a brick-and-mortar store that displays vendors' merchandise during operating business hours.
Original Markets LLC is a vehicle for small businesses to thrive in and around Boston and push the open-market economy forward. Found, a subsection of the company, are vintage market pop-ups at varying locations, block parties, and two vintage stores in Cambridge, MA.
The concept of brick-and-mortar stores for vendors is to allow them to sell their goods in a traditional retail environment. For most, vending is a side hustle, and it will enable them to sell their merchandise while not physically present.
In November, Watertown Yards, a recent retail, dining, and experience development, hosted a Found Market pop-up.
Not only did Found host a Watertown Yards market, but they also opened their second brick-and-mortar store at Arsenal Yards. Bleeding Love's merchandise can now be found within the store through December 24.
Scenes from the Arsenal Yards Found Market pop-up.
Scenes from the Fenway Flea, hosted by Found Market.
“I do not like social media. If I could delete it all, I would. If I could not have a phone, I would not have a phone. If I could have a flip phone, I would.
”
Vendor markets are an essential form of profit and advertisement for small creatives and business owners. Carpinito has become a vendor veteran over the past year and now sells her merchandise full-time in-person and via e-commerce platforms.
The in-store presence will allow Carpinito's business to thrive in a low-risk, high-reward environment just outside of Boston proper. For someone who prefers to stay offline, her business has the chance to take a more traditional retail route.
Studio space has not only been a workroom for Carpinito, but an opportunity to offer private showroom appointments to clients.
