Creative Business Spotlight – Flood Clothing

One of the things I would like to do in this space is periodically highlight a creative business that I particularly like. I’m going to kick off the Spotlight series by drawing your attention to Flood Clothing.

I should mention that I have always been a ‘hat person’ – just ask my mom. From the time that I was old enough to be able to pull a hat onto my own head, I was wearing them as much as possible. So when my little sister and I were walking around the Portland Saturday Market a few weeks ago, my attention was captured immediately by the Flood Clothing booth with its wall of adorable hats.

I stopped into the booth to try on a few of the creations, and was even more taken with the proprietress – Nicole Flood was incredibly personable, the kind of person you immediately want to be friends with. (So much so that I witnessed someone else in the booth, who I don’t believe she had met before, spontaneously invite her to their upcoming Halloween party.)

Her work was very well done, as well. Her line includes not just hats, but also shirts, skirts, dresses, and accessories such as wrist cuffs, and everything is based around recycled materials – the hat I ended up with used to be a pair of corduroy pants and a plaid men’s shirt, for example. She clearly has a gift for breathing new life into the materials, finding great ways to incorporate even the prints on t-shirts into her designs. I love that she gives each piece a unique name, too – it just underscores the fact that you are getting a true original when you buy one of her creations.

If you care about things like supporting creativity, green and sustainable business, or just gorgeous, fun clothes and accessories, I highly recommend checking out Flood Clothing – either by visiting the website, Portland Saturday Market, or one of the events or boutiques listed here (in the Seattle and Missoula areas as well as Portland).