Mandy Smith, owner of Tidewater Fleece, initially began as a way to embrace the cold while staying stylish. As a sea kayak guide in Seward, she says she spent a lot of time out on the boat, traveling from the dock to their kayaking destination, and having something to keep warm was paramount.
“As someone who gets excited and motivated by the self-expression I get from the clothes I wear, it’s a more-fun day when you have a more-fun outfit,” Smith said.
After some time, her friend who she started the business with, Annie, moved back to the Lower 48. Since then, Smith has brought Tidewater’s headquarters to Anchorage, where she sews everything in small batches at her midtown studio. At first, skirts were their popular item, but Smith has since expanded to making headbands, as well as the tall and short beanies.
“We even started bartering with different people, a water taxi captain would offer us lingcod and black cod and different fish and would trade for a couple skirts for his wife. Things like that have been super fun,” she said.
Tidewater Fleece has been broadening their horizons, and recently collaborated with local band Black Barrel and the Bad Men and DJ PØSTERCHILD. Smith said she happens to be good friends as well as neighbors with one of the band members. For the Black Barrel and the Bad Men collaboration, Smith made 50 hats that were available for purchase at one of the band’s shows.
“He had always mentioned interest in doing a project together and me maybe making merch for them,” Smith said. “I couldn’t quite visualize what that looked like at first but once we began meeting about that project it became what I thought to be an awesome idea, that I don’t think I would have come up with on my own if he wouldn’t have brought it up.”
What came from his idea then led to a lot of other folks showing interest, Smith said. She also recently partnered with PØSTERCHILD who she happened to meet at the Black Barrell and the Bad Men show, where he sold hats at the Slush Cup Afterparty in Girdwood.
Tidewater Fleece has products available for purchase on their website, and Smith says she is planning on being at popups in Anchorage and beyond throughout the summer.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
