OUR STORY
we make clothing out
of what already exists.
The Drift Collective is a homegrown brand built around a simple idea: there is already more than enough stuff in the world.
So instead of starting with new materials, we start with what’s been left behind.
We source reclaimed textiles, secondhand clothing, surplus and imperfect goods, then bring them back to our studio in Eliot, Maine to be washed, repaired, deconstructed, dyed, printed, cut, sewn, and remade into something new.
OUR PROCESS
We manufacture in small batches, work with local artists and makers, and curate goods from independent brands we believe in. Everything we make is produced close to home, with an emphasis on quality, creativity, and keeping materials in use for as long as possible.
We believe good design doesn’t need to come at the expense of the people or places around us. It should connect us to the materials we use, the people who make them, and the communities where they come to life.
IT STARTS WITH WHAT ALREADY EXISTS
We source materials through thrift stores, textile recyclers, and surplus channels. We also work with larger brands to rescue overstock, imperfect goods, and blank garments that would otherwise go unused.
Rather than creating demand for more new materials, we start with what’s already here. Every piece of fabric has a past. We’re interested in giving it a future.
MADE IN A SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWN.
Everything we source comes back to our factory and design studio in Eliot, Maine.
This is where the transformation happens. We launder, repair, deconstruct and reconstruct. We overdye and print, cut and sew. We’re a small but mighty team. Keeping our production close allows us to stay hands-on with every part of the process, from the first cut to the final stitch.
FROM OUR STUDIO TO YOUR CLOSET
Everything we make is one of a kind or produced in very limited quantities. Once finished, pieces make their way to one of our two shops or to our curated online collection.
But our process doesn’t stop when a piece leaves our hands. We offer onsite customization and mending because we want the clothes we make, and the clothes you already have, to live as long a life as possible. We want you to wear them, change them, repair them, make them yours, and keep them around.
The goal isn’t to make more clothing. It’s to make better use of what’s already here.
A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER
Drift started ten years ago, when I accidentally stumbled into the fashion industry and realized pretty quickly that I couldn’t look away from what I was seeing.
The industry was producing enormous amounts of waste while relying on systems that often came at the expense of people and the planet. I didn’t have a grand plan for fixing it. I just knew I wanted to try doing things differently.
At 23, I opened Drift’s first storefront. I self-funded the whole thing with money I’d saved by bartering and painting houses, and built it from the ground up with a practically nonexistent budget. For a while, I lived, illegally, on a mattress on the floor in the back room because it was the only way I could afford the rent.
That first space became both our storefront and our production studio. It stayed that way for five years. There was never a big investment or a shortcut. Drift grew slowly through a lot of hard work, a lot of experimentation, and the support of the people in our community who kept showing up for us.
Ten years later, we’re still independently owned, still making things locally, and still figuring it out as we go. The scale has grown but the idea hasn’t.
There is so much more we want to make, remake, build, and experiment with and we’re really excited about what comes next.
Thank you for being here, for wearing the things we make, for bringing your old clothes back to us, and for making this project possible!
— Emily
