When we think about retail brands that proudly include Portland in their DNA we think of Angela Adams, we think of Rogue's Gallery and, increasingly, we think of Sea Bags. Clearly, Mickey Drexler, CEO of J. Crew and writer Nick Paumgarten of The New Yorker do too. In this week's 14 page profile of Drexler, Paumgarten centers the lead anecdote around Mickey's visit to Sea Bags Portland HQ this past May. The setup is Drexler's practice of broadcasting his stream of consciousness to his staff in New York via a "tinny loudspeaker system" from wherever he is, in his office next door, or hundreds of miles away:

In New York, the voice came out of the walls. "Can I have your attention, please? We are—where are we?—we are on Custom House Wharf, at the international headquarters of Sea Bags, in Portland harbor." He described the scene, including the presence, right out the back door, of docked lobster boats, which to his eyes lent the operation, and really the entire episode, the kind of transitive authenticity that he yearns for in his life and his work. "The vibe is amazing. We're bringing home some bags. And we're going to do an amazing story."

One of the results of the trip is a line of Angela Adams designed Sea Bags sold by J. Crew (see bags above). The diagonal dipped orange tote was picked by Elle magazine this summer to represent the "new prep" trend. Mickey found what we hope all visitors will find when they come to Portland:

"This is like discovering gold. This is it. Loudspeaker, please."

Tags: design, entrepreneurs, Media, retail, sustainability, work in portland