Small Business Stories: Emily Witham & The London Dyke Market

This week, we meet Emily Witham, founder of London’s premiere FLINTA+ artist & makers market, to talk about community, creativity and the “dykeconomy”

Photography by Cherry Au Hon I (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

When Emily Witham (Si apre in una nuova finestra) launched The London Dyke Market (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in 2024, she wasn’t just organising a market – she was helping build an economy rooted in care, creativity and community. Frustrated by the lack of physical platforms for dykes to share and sell their work, and inspired by a long lineage of DIY lesbian activism, Witham put together a one-day event that felt more like a movement than a market. The result? Nearly 2,000 attendees turned up for a sapphic summer fête featuring over 30 dyke artists, writers, performers and makers – from tattooists to poets to piercers.

Now preparing for its second iteration, The London Dyke Market returns to Kennington this August, expanding across two venues and promising more artists and more community than before.

Below, Witham shares the story behind the market’s beginnings, the challenges of building something from scratch, and the radical power of dykes investing in each other.