Try This On For Size
Biology Major Becomes a Ballard Fashionista
Stephanie Kaldestad '05 never saw Ballard as a fashion mecca when she was growing up. It was just the neighborhood where her grandparents lived and her dad worked at the shipyard. But when she visited different Seattle neighborhoods to decide where to open Ketch, a clothing boutique, the mix of old and new shops and restaurants on Ballard Avenue "just felt right."
Since August 2010, Stephanie's continued her family tradition of business in Ballard, offering women's fashions for everyone from a 12-year-old brought in by her mom to a grandma "who purchased a pretty trendy top."
Stephanie majored in biology at Seattle Pacific. After graduation, she felt a need to do something to express her "creative side."
So she headed to New york City for fashion school. Though there's not a lot of overlap between the two, she says her solid math background was a big help in the fashion world.
Did she ever look over and notice what her roommate, a fashion major at SPU, was up to?
"No," she laughs. "Never. I didn't even think about it!" Now, a circular rack near the front of the store holds a line of t-shirts, Poppy and Moe, designed by Kaldestad's SPU roommate, Kelsie Moe Mcgee '05.
Her path may be unconventional, but the journey back to Ballard has helped Stephanie find a great career fit. "I wouldn't have it any other way," she adds.
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