We stopped in Portland, Maine for a few days and I wandered into a relatively new shop, Portland Trading Co. Kazeem, the proprietor, is stylish in all the right ways. Which is to say he is totally current without being a snob. He was so engaging I could have talked at him for a long while, but fortunately for him some regular customers came in and rescued him from my enthusiasm. The aspect of the Portland Trading Co. that intrigued me the most, beyond the well-edited selection, is that Kazeem buys across several categories — the place is like a general store for the modern man — and yet it all hangs together in an entirely cohesive way, from clothes to jewelry to textiles to vintage items to food. He even manages to incorporate elements from Africa, and the colors and pieces he brings in look amazing juxtaposed against American-made, regional goods he sources.
Find the Portland Trading Co. on facebook or in the real world the next time you’re traveling up the coast of Maine. An online store is in the works too, just in case a jaunt to Maine isn’t in your immediate future (but if not, it should be…)