Product Evolution

Maine women making a living by creatively transforming used items into fresh merchandise

Nish Rahman styled in WCKD merch.

SLOW FASHION, SLOW FOOD, SLOW LIVING. These ‘slow down’ concepts have been gaining momentum since the 1980’s, when McDonald’s opened a restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome. In response, activist Carlo Petrini started the International Slow Food Movement.

The overarching idea of all things slow is to live intentionally, enjoying moments instead of racing through our days, and choosing high quality, sustainably made products over mass-production.

While the concept is appealing, it can be daunting to make the leap into a more mindful lifestyle. There are still deadlines to meet, bills to pay, and events to attend. The pandemic forced many people to give living slow a shot, whether they wanted to or not. For some, the lifestyle stuck.

ALL THE PERKS

Sarah Perkins started her business All the Perks during the pandemic. “It started as hoarder prevention,” she says. Sarah has always loved sewing and creating new clothes from thrifted fabrics, but during quarantine she had more time than ever. “I realized I couldn’t keep everything I was making,” she explains. She started selling her creations on Instagram and eventually created an LLC. Now she sells through her website and in person at pop up shops and local markets.

The idea of reusing old clothes and textiles is hardly new. Humans have been stretching our resources since the beginning of time, especially during periods of economic hardship. Now the practice of reusing has become a trend of its own, rallying around motivators like environmental impact, human rights, affordability, and individual style. At All the Perk’s, Sarah’s mission is simple: enough stuff already exists in the world, so let’s use what we’ve got.

“I used to be a slave to fashion trends,” Sarah says. About eight years ago, she was planning to meet a friend and felt like she needed to buy a new outfit for the occasion. “I thought, ‘why am I doing this?” It was an aha moment that made Sarah reflect on her own consumption and embrace her personal style, irrelevant of trends. “It was so freeing,” she says.

After college, Kayte Demont moved to Los Angeles, started a fashion blog, and began working as a stylist, content creator, and photographer in the fashion industry. After years of following trends, Kayte found herself on a much-needed journey of self-discovery. In 2017, she got sober and came out. “I was figuring out how I wanted to present myself, and there was no brand that was everything I wanted to be,” she says. “Everything felt alienating.” She was also starting to dig deeper into fashion industry practices, especially around fast fashion, which is generally defined as inexpensive, very trendy styles made quickly to meet consumer demand. Once the trend passes, many of the garments end up in landfills. The clothes are often produced with staggering amounts of toxic chemicals and in poor working conditions with little to no quality control.

WCKD COLLECTIVE

Originally from Cumberland, Kayte left L.A., moved back to Maine, and started WCKD Collective, a clothing company focused on slow fashion and personal style, often featuring gender- neutral pieces. Some of the items Kayte sells are upcycled, meaning she uses her art background to alter previously owned clothes with paint, dye, and other design materials. WCKD Collective also sells curated vintage clothes, carefully choosing pieces that will be the right fit for shoppers who want to buy sustainably but don’t enjoy searching through racks of secondhand clothing. When she finds something great, Kayte says, “I think to myself, ‘That’s perfect for somebody, and I can’t wait to meet them’.”

WCKD Collective sells online, at pop ups, and by appointment at their private studio in Portland. Kayte and her team act as stylists, taking the time to ask customers what they hope to gain from their shopping experience. Often, Kayte says, they’re stepping into a new phase of life and want to present themselves in a fresh, new way. “There’s a level of trust,” she says. “I’m not going to tell you to buy something for the sake of a sale. If you don’t feel good in it, it’s a no.” For anyone who has struggled with style identity, hiring a professional to help figure out what feels good—and why—can be liberating and transformative. As Kayte says, “Sometimes you just need a hype person.”

As an artist and stylist, no one can deny that Kayte loves clothes. But the heart and soul of her work isn’t really about fashion. It’s about bringing people together and helping others express themselves. “Our goal is true inclusivity, true connection,” she says. “I want to be growing this brand and community as a safe place for people to come and explore who they are.”

WHITE PINE BATH & BREW

The relationships Kayte has made as she’s developed WCKD Collective have helped the company grow and gain visibility. In 2021, Kayte and a friend launched Fete Market, a curated pop-up that’s a cross between a flea market and a craft show. The free-to-attend and free-to-vend event happens once a month at Apres in Portland. Through the event, she met Elaine Kinney, owner and founder of White Pine Bath & Brew. Elaine makes vegan, palm oil free soap, and one of the main ingredients is local craft beer. Together, they are now co-organizers of the Fete event, which gives exposure to many local makers.

Elaine has first-hand experience with the impact of community support. In 2018, she was working in social services and had recently moved to South Portland. She started exploring the Knightsville area on foot and realized she was surrounded by small, local businesses and a vibrant, innovative community. “It was really inspirational to me,” Elaine says. “People were living their dreams, and it showed in their work.”

During the pandemic, Elaine was experiencing burnout, and the local spots in her neighborhood became havens. In 2020, she pulled the plug on her career and dove into small business owner- ship. A friend had taught her to make soap, and it was something Elaine enjoyed. She also saw an opportunity to partner with micro- breweries in southern Maine and create a niche soap product using local beer. The amino acids in hops can soothe irritated skin, and brewer’s yeast is loaded with essential B vitamins. Elaine started visiting local breweries, initially buying beer for her soap recipe and getting to know the brewers. She expected to encounter a competitive spirit between different brands, but she didn’t. Every place she visited was supportive of their peers. “It was so cool seeing all the collabs [the breweries] do with each other and the way they support each other,” Elaine says. “I was like, ‘I want to know these people. How can I get involved?’”

Elaine realized the breweries often end up with extra product they can’t sell, and a lot of that beer goes down the drain. She started asking if she could repurpose the excess. Now she rarely pays for the beer she uses in her soap. It comes to her warm and flat, but that’s exactly how she needs it. Currently, Elaine is working with eleven local breweries, and she tries to use a different beer in each soap scent.

In addition to mastering her hot-process soap recipes, Elaine has taught herself how to run a small business by listening to podcasts, watching marketing tutorials, and googling prolifically. But one of her biggest resources for knowledge and support has been her relationships with other local entrepreneurs and the community she’s created around her products. She has loyal customers who follow her to makers markets. “It makes it more meaningful than just sales,” Elaine says. Most of her sales are through her website or pop up markets, and she’s looking into wholesale and corporate gifting. As White Pine Bath & Brew grows—beard balms and oils are in the works, along with new scents—the pillar of her brand will always be her beer soap. “If you can make it really clear what you’re about, it’s easier to market your business,” Elaine explains.

While many old-is-new businesses laid their foundations during the pandemic, Sea Bags has been a sustainability leader since 1999. The company started as a hobby business, repurposing used sailcloths into bags. Hannah Kubiak, one of the co-founders, grew up with a father who was a bagmaker and a sailor, and he taught Hannah his craft. She saw a way to keep spent sailcloth—still beautiful and very durable—out of landfills, and to create jobs for craftspeople in Maine.

SEA BAGS

What started as a small workshop on a Portland wharf has grown into fifty retail stores across the United States. The company still only uses material sourced in the US, and directly from Maine whenever possible. They’ve also created a redemption center system, encouraging people to recycle their sails at any of the Sea Bags stores in exchange for merchandise.

Looking to the future, Sea Bags is committed to expanding on their sustainability model. They’re working with partners in the sailing industry to recycle more parts of the sail, as well as utilizing line and hardware. “We all have an opportunity to keep as much out of the landfill as possible,” a company representative said.

The Sea Bags company offers positive proof that upcycling in retail has been happening in Maine for decades, and it is here to stay. As new women come onto the sustainability scene, product offerings expand and the community grows. To Kayte at WCKD Collective, the idea of slow living doesn’t mean just shopping for thrift. It means being conscious about our choices, investing in quality, and being mindful of our impact. And, she says, “From a sustainability standpoint, this slow needs to be the next thing.”