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As comfortable as a day at the beach — and stylish, too

If Gig Harbor and living by the water were a vibe, how would you wear it?

If an old beach towel from your childhood doesn’t come to mind, Kathleen van der Spek’s casually cool sweatshirts — made from repurposed vintage beach towels — may change how you think about those linens gathering dust in your closet.

Kspek is the Gig Harbor fashion designer’s new retail and design studio. She hopes to open in time for Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28. The shop will showcase her nostalgic fashion in a vintage 1950s building at 7706 Pioneer Way in downtown Gig Harbor.

Located across from William Patrick’s Coffee, the two-story structure was previously home to SteelGuard Overhead Garage Doors and Williams Flower & Gift. It now sports a fresh coat of white paint and will soon carry the Kspek name on its facade.

Kathleen van der Spek worked at high-profile fashion companies in New York, the Bay Area and Seattle before moving to Gig Harbor with her family in 2021. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

Designed while you watch

In addition to retail space, Kspek will also provide a makerspace, allowing customers to customize apparel with unique patches, embroidery and names. Completed designs will be available for pickup within two weeks.

“Most people don’t get to see where their clothes come from,” explains van der Spek, who plans to create all her designs and prototypes in the shop. (She will outsource some sewing, but all work will be done in Western Washington.) The open floor plan will give customers a glimpse into her design process and vintage towel collection.

Kspek will open on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28, in the former William’s Flowers and Gifts on Pioneer Way. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

Opening a retail storefront wasn’t what van der Spek initially planned. “I always wanted a cool design space,” she said. When she saw the building, she realized it could be much more.

“Gig Harbor has been very supportive of my business over the last 3 1/2 years,” van der Spek said, “and I’m excited to give people a behind-the-scenes look.”

Fashion design background

Fashion design is not new to van der Spek. After earning her design and marketing degree at Ball State University in Indiana, she worked with corporate fashion brands in New York and Seattle, and spent five years working for Tommy Bahama in Seattle.

Van der Spek also had her own fashion brand, Katherine van der Spek Collection, in the Bay Area. After selling her business and 10 years’ worth of collected fabric in 2018, she returned to Seattle to work for Buki, a luxury travel clothing company.

Kathleen van der Spek uses textiles from vintage beach towels, sourced from a wide variety of places. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

In 2021, van der Spek moved to Gig Harbor with her family and two children. Because the commute was too long, she became a stay-at-home parent. She soon realized she needed a creative outlet. “I started playing around with repurposing fabric and made some things with beach towels.”

Her designs began to reflect her new life on the peninsula. The prints, textiles and colors of old beach towels inspired her. It “fit in with our lifestyle” as a family that enjoyed life on the water.

A Midwestern kid who grew up close to Lake Michigan, Van der Spek’s designs are also deeply connected to her childhood. Sewing side-by-side with her mother and grandmother, van der Spek learned to appreciate hand-me-downs and a “less is more” and “quality over quantity” design approach.

Most people don’t know, she said, that “there are beautiful sandy beaches in Indiana.” Summers included bike rides to the YMCA pool with friends and beach time with family, a beach towel always nearby.

Kathleen van der Spek, left, with her sister Liz Kindred in the sort of beach towel that now inspires her fashions. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

Vintage cool

Today, the natural beauty and relaxed lifestyle of the Pacific Northwest inspire her designs and offer a sustainable style with vintage cool. As a thrifter, she repurposes textiles for style and environmental impact. “I was very drawn to repurposed materials. I want to work with things that already exist,” van der Spek said.

Witnessing the complexities of mass production firsthand during her corporate fashion career provided van der Spek with a deep understanding of the fashion industry’s waste and overconsumption.

An estimated 85% of the clothing Americans consume — nearly 3.8 billion pounds annually — ends up in landfills. That works out to nearly 80 pounds per American per year.

Van der Spek did not want to go in the direction of fast fashion, a term to describe quickly made, inexpensive fashion to keep up with constant demand.

Kathleen van der Spek tends to buy vintage towels from the 1980s and ’90s and prefers Jacquard towels. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

Her textiles come from many places, including estate sales, online resellers like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark and professional second-hand buyers. She tends to buy vintage towels from the 1980s and ’90s and prefers Jacquard towels. The designs on Jacquard towels are created directly in the fabric, not printed or embroidered on top. I look for “good textures that don’t snag,” van der Spek said.

Her creative experiment paid off in April 2023, when she walked into the Gig Harbor boutique Harbornest wearing one of her own designs. The owners took note and “wanted to buy it. And that’s really when my business started.”

Popular designs

Today, Kspek designs are sold in eight boutiques in Washington state and one in California. Her most popular design, the Sunset Chaser sweatshirt, has sold more than 3,000. They retail for $165 and are made in a variety of colors with the option for customization.

Kspek also sells a clutch made from repurposed towels, selling for $85. The bright design features a hair scrunchie (tie) and a waterproof liner.

For local flair, the Custom Double G Gig Harbor Sweatshirt runs for $150.

Designs can be purchased online at the store’s website.

The vibe is nostalgically yesterday for Kspek, with a refreshed outlook for today and tomorrow.

Kspek

Website: www.kspek.com

Hours: 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, through the holiday season

Address: 7706 Pioneer Way, Gig Harbor, WA

Opening: Later this month, targeting Saturday, Nov. 28.

Kspek will open Nov. 28 at 7706 Pioneer Way, the former home of home to SteelGuard Overhead Garage Doors and Williams Flower & Gift. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann