Born to Thrift: Reverie - Portland, Maine
Hans Croft was first introduced to the secondhand market growing up when he was exposed to his family’s long line of antique dealers, notably, his grandmother. He didn’t think much of it at the time, but from then on it was almost as if his fate was sealed. Growing up, looking his best was always something to aspire to, but reflecting on it makes him realize that the trends of the time didn’t help him too much. Many pastel pants and performance polos were frequent flyers, and still inhabit his closet today as a distant memory. When he was 17 years old, he started working at David Wood in downtown Portland, Maine. This changed his perspective and as he likes to say, he was spoiled by starting at the top of the clothing game, being surrounded by quality that wasn’t comprehendible to him at the time.
From that point forward he kept finding himself getting drawn to the thrifting world as a consumer, slowly curating his own personal style. He then started developing the concept of Reverie, thinking long and hard about the name, and coming across the inspiration for his logo from a stamp found at the Common Ground Fair. He finally had the ability to hunt for hidden gems for a purpose other than to fill his own closet. He wanted to share his style and vision with the community and filter through the weeds to bring the high-quality items to customers in a curated collection. “I see my style as something I would like to show…to other people” he says, there’s a lot of traditional menswear such as collared shirts, sweaters, and trousers in this collection. He also gets inspired by pieces that he wouldn’t typically wear or pieces that inspire him and would like to show people.
As of now he is currently occupying a space in Buzz Coffee on Exchange Street in Portland’s Old Port, but wishes to eventually pack his bags and go on the road, bringing his collection to the consumer. This will give him a chance to connect with people he otherwise wouldn’t have and begin to strengthen his online presence, which he is noticing is more and more important to growing the business. While he does this, he wants to find a studio space in Portland to further focus on the business and still bring in customers by appointment to view his collection. He said, obviously the dream is to have a physical shop of his own and that he was spoiled by starting at the end with Buzz Coffee, and is grateful to be able to have this incredible opportunity to learn and experiment in a high traffic space.
As of right now Hans is splitting his time between an outside job, Reverie, and a place that he holds close to home, the Still a Good Cause shop on Forest Ave. He currently volunteers there every Wednesday to help them process donations and merchandise the shop for visitors. “I saw an 80-year-old woman walking up the stairs with a box and offered to volunteer so they didn’t have to do that anymore.” Sure, he gets first crack at some of the donations that come through the shop, but like stated above, he doesn’t like pulling in big hauls, so he lets a lot of pieces make it to the floor so the customers can have a go as well.
Hans is looking forward to the evolution of Reverie you can follow him on this journey through Reverie’s Instagram or visit the shop when Buzz Coffee is open.