Nicole Lorenson, the founder of Iowa vintage storefront Preservation, was one of our very first stockist (we know—can you believe?!). Needless to say, she and her store hold a special place in our hearts, so we wanted to introduce you to her amazingly curated store and kick off a new series here on The Supercritical called The Clean Community where we introduce you to some of our beloved stockists.
From Photography To Vintage
“I studied photography and I worked in the traditional portrait industry for most of my 20’s. I was also really into vintage clothing and fashion, but not really in the traditional sense. I grew up on a farm in North Central Iowa so I was pretty limited to what I was exposed to—there was no Pinterest or Instagram back then.”
“In college, I got really into vintage and started collecting it—I even wanted to become a fashion photographer. So I moved to New York to try and make connections and go from there, but I learned really quickly that jobs aren’t always super steady and it really stressed me out. I then got a job in Iowa and moved back to start working in the portrait industry. Then around 2010, Etsy became a thing and everyone told me I should start selling my vintage, but my husband at the time was the one who convinced me to start my Etsy and that’s how I began selling vintage.”
Opening Up Preservation
“While I was in Des Moines, I realized I would want my shop to be there in the East Village. It’s a small town, but it’s growing and there’s a lot of young people here that want to stay and invest in the city. There was also nothing really here that I wanted to do, so I started to look for a space and I came across the space we’re currently in and I just started pursuing it.”
“The whole time I knew I wanted to sell vintage and also modern clothing, and have other things in the store that compliment it. I wanted everything that I was selling to be made in a thoughtful way.”
Denim On Denim
“I would say we’re most known for our vintage denim. We sell in store and I’m really hands-on with the customers and I try to educate them as much as possible. Trying to find vintage denim online its kind of impossible, you have to try on a million pairs before you find the one that you love. And that’s why most people come to the store. I also think that people like coming into the store because they know that everything they’re buying is being sourced in a responsible way and they don’t even have to think about it.”
Why Palermo?
“I will say, what drew me to Palermo is that the products are handmade in the U.S in small batches and all natural. A lot of it though is Jessica’s story and definitely the branding. I feel like you’ll see products sometimes where you’re like ‘well the product itself seems really good, but the packaging doesn’t look cool.’ I think my customers like it because the price point is affordable, I also think they’re drawn to the packaging because it’s clean and bright.”
Favorite Palermo Product?
“I really like the aromatherapy roller, especially the Vitality one. But the product that I use the most is the Hydrating Facial Toner.”
Random Fact About Nicole
“I think a random fun fact that a lot of people don’t know is that I grew up on a farm. I graduated with only 26 people—like my high school doesn’t even exist anymore!”
