Nautical chic makes its mark in Maine
A burgeoning marine-chic industry is hitting the cobblestone streets of the Old Port in Portland, with bait bags with nautical themes to sunglasses made from lobster traps adding to the typical tourist fare of lobster T-shirts and mugs, according to the Bangor Daily News.
Alaina Marie, a handbag company that started two years ago, has seen business at its Fore Street location explode. The company sells clutches, wallets and wristlets with colorful mesh material used by lobstermen for bait bags and buoys.
“How more Maine can you be?” owner Alaina Harris, who grew up in South Portland, told the BDN.
Harris, 27, had an internship at Sea Bags, which gave her a crash course in handmade product design. Her bags are sold at Anthropologie and J.Crew and the shop in Old Port.
Others joining the trend for nautical goods include John Turner, a University of Southern Maine graduate who turns wooden lobster traps into sunglasses and cufflinks. His Maine-inspired line, Traps Eyewear, is scheduled to launch Aug. 14, at Portland Trading Co.
“All traps are salvaged and repurposed,” Turner told the newspaper. While walking along Willard Beach, he said, “I happened to stumble across the metal traps and thought, ‘How can I melt it down and make glasses?’”
That wasn’t possible,so he used old oak traps.
And at Hamilton Marine in Searsport, repurposed nautical accessories made locally are starting to dominate the gift section. Their shops in Searsport, Portland and Rockland have carried Alaina Marie bait bags for a year, and tourists scoop them up, according to the BDN.
“We are getting a lot more sailors who say, ‘This is one of my pasttimes, and I want to show that,’” Angie Gallant, the company’s product line manager, told the BDN. “It brings awareness as to what the tools are being used for.”
Maine Coast Creations in Cutler sells lobster measures shaped into a claw and offers custom engravings.
And Lighthouse Studio Design of Portland turns lobster gauges into bracelets.
Mainebiz web partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments