Many of us have material objects handed down to us (for example, my grandmother’s battered silver tea strainer), but we also inherit less concrete things from our forebears (my grandmother’s secret technique for flaky piecrust). The United Nations defines the latter as “intangible cultural heritage,” and Holly Smith feels passionate about a particular aspect of it. “Handcraft is something that needs to be taught; it can’t be written down or given to you. It’s something that somebody must teach you,” she says. At HS Mercantile, her shop on South Berwick’s Main Street, Smith draws on her love of handcraft and her background in fashion and interior design to find objects and clothing from around the world that showcase traditional skills used in modern ways. 

Smith grew up in New Hampshire and attended college in Boston. “I lived in Boston for ten years and studied costume design,” she says. “I worked in a beautiful studio there that did all the costumes for the Santa Barbara Opera Company and the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. It was one of my first big jobs out of college, and it was just an amazing opportunity.” Then she moved to southern California, planning to come back east after a year, but, as she says, “I ended up staying there for 25 years. I’m not sure how that happened!” In California she worked in production design for Dosa, a clothing, accessories, and housewares company, and collaborated closely with founder and designer Christina Kim. While at Dosa, Kim’s dual passions for sustainable production and traditional techniques rubbed off on Smith. She also worked in interior design for a while, helping Hollywood stars furnish their dream homes. 

When her daughter was about to enter kindergarten, the thought of being closer to extended family lured Smith back to New England. She soon found herself planning her own shop, in which to sell the work of some of the artisans she had encountered while traveling with Kim. She settled in southern Maine and wanted to create this retail space close to home. She says, “I wanted to be in my own community. Just down the street here in South Berwick is the mill building, and there’s a lot of artisans in there, and there’s a lot of creative, interesting things going on around here. It just felt like the right place.” The shop sits on a picture-perfect block of South Berwick, facing the Sarah Orne Jewett House museum across the street. Its nineteenth-century ceilings are high and airy, and light streams in through the big front windows. Tables covered with the work of local potters and card makers fill the center of the space, while clothing racks line its perimeter.

Browsing the clothing racks at HS Mercantile feels like rifling through your cool bohemian friend’s closet—if that cool bohemian friend visited India, Lithuania, and Italy regularly and befriended artisans everywhere they went. Delicately block-printed dresses rub shoulders with handspun tunics and sturdy trousers. Natural fibers reign supreme, and Smith encourages visitors to feel the silk, linen, or hand-
embroidered cottons. “I always tell people, ‘Don’t be afraid to touch or open up or unfold it, or wrap it around you,’” says Smith. “I feel like it’s a very tactile experience, and I want people to have the chance to enjoy it.” 

These sumptuous garments often bear the mark of the makers’ hands, hands that Smith may be well acquainted with. “A lot of times I know who actually made these things,” she explains. Knowing the makers as she does, she feels strongly about offering them proper compensation for their work. “I have had people ask me why things cost what they do and who sets the price. And I’m never offended by that. I’m always happy to answer that for people and explain how a piece was made, where it was made, or who made it.” Making the connection between the maker and the consumer is the opposite of fast fashion, where items swiftly made in faraway factories are meant to be worn a few times and then discarded. Smith prefers a different model. “Instead of shopping every weekend, I buy two things a year,” she says. “You make good decisions, and you hold on to them. You may pay more for something, but it will last you for a really long time.” 

Part of Smith’s commitment to eschewing fast fashion takes the form of repeating items. “It’s funny, I had a dress in stock this summer that I had last summer, and somebody came in and said, ‘Isn’t this left over from last year?’” she says. “I said, ‘Well, no, but it was very popular last year.’ But I talked to the weaver and the person who block-printed it and asked if they could make me more, and they said yes. So I had it last year, and I had it again this year because it’s gorgeous. It’s beautiful. It’s perfect.” This approach assures loyal customers that, if they find the perfect item in Smith’s shop, they may be able to find it again.

It also helps her deepen her relationships with the makers whose work she carries. “I think we have a nice rapport because, not only am I interested in what they do, but I know how to knit, I know how to sew, I know how to lay a floor,” she says. “I can tell someone that I want a buttonhole made a certain way because I understand how a garment works. We relate on a whole different level, and I think we have nice relationships because of that.” 

“I love all the people who make all this stuff. I work with great people,” she continues. “I think that comes through to people who come in.”

Handmade Close to Home

The clothing selection at HS Mercantile has a distinctly international flavor, but many other items Smith carries don’t travel far to get to her shop. “I would say 90 percent of the other goods in the shop are local to this area,” Smith notes. “I try to support the local makers too.” Here are some of the Maine and New Hampshire artisans whose work can be found at HS Mercantile.

• All of New Hampshire potter Karen Semo’s textured pottery is beautiful, but what catches the eye are her heart-shaped vases that can be placed on a table or hung on a wall. As Smith says, “I feel so many things when I look at this. The heart’s expanding. It’s also exploding. I love her shapes and her textures.”
• Holmes and Hudson facial products fill a cabinet toward the back of the shop. “I love them,” enthuses Smith. “I ran out of one of her facial oils last week and thought my skin would fall off my face. She makes such nice products. My favorite thing of hers is the geranium carrot seed oil facial spray.”
• Bright, graphic kitchen towels and cloth napkins tumble over an old wooden drying rack. “These are made by Casey Everett; she’s Hearth and Harrow. She’s out of Rockport,” says Smith. “She stitches her own napkins and towels, so they’re a lot heavier than what many other makers produce, which I love.”
• Jars of Bauneg Beg Farm’s Himalayan salt scrub are sitting on the counter when I visit, having just been unpacked. “They make these lovely body scrubs,” says Smith. “This is the citrus burst scent, but my favorite scrub is the Earl Grey. It’s really moisturizing and smells great.” 
• Not all the clothing Smith carries comes from places as far-flung as India or Italy; she shows me a line of colorful pajamas made just down the road in Kittery. “This is Zapapa. She sews with end-stock fabric, so her pieces are limited edition. If you see it now, you’re not going to see it again!” Smith explains.
• Finally, Smith has a particular soft spot for the mugs made by Lindsey Howarth that showcase the 1901 Maine flag design. “She’s super local—about a mile down the road. I bought one of her mugs somewhere and then became obsessed with them,” laughs Smith. “That’s my absolute most popular mug now.”