Waterwoman plunges into design
After cliff-diving injuries sidelined her athletic career, Ashley Baxter finds a new purpose in upcycling thrifted finds
by Mona de Crinis
Photo by Ryan Siphers
Most of ashley Baxter’s early memories took place on, under or near a massive patchwork table in the back of her parent’s Kahului store. It shielded her during spirited games of hide-and-seek with her brother, supported paper and pencil for homework assignments, and propped her up when she was sick, splayed out on its generous surface with blankets and a portable DVD player.
Now situated in the Baxter family home in Pukalani, where it eats up almost half of a three-car garage, the same table that comforted her as a child today holds Baxter’s adult dreams. It is both anchor and springboard as the 34-year-old former professional waterwoman grows her sustainable brand, Love Winslow, a collection of custom clutches, totes and shoulder bags repurposed from landfill-bound scraps.
Named after her fearless grandmother, Love Winslow, who traveled the world authoring books on lighthouses, Baxter launched the brand in late 2022, six years after a fifth compounded blackout concussion while cliff diving thwarted the athletic career she never questioned.
Then everything changed. Diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome and restricted to 20 minutes of brain activity a day, Baxter plummeted into a soul-sucking abyss from which there seemed no escape. “I felt dead inside, just black,” she said, calling up the memory.
Always a “glass half-full” person drawn to the light who could find the silver lining no matter the storm, Baxter struggled in the past to understand the depths of depression that drove friends to suicide. How could one willingly fall on their own sword?
She gets it now. “I didn’t know darkness could be so heavy,” she said.
Recovering for long stretches on the mainland, Baxter discovered thrift, secondhand and consignment stores. She luxuriated in the fabrics and hit the dressing rooms. She modeled designer hand-me-downs and tried on trendy graphic T-shirts, marveling at the weave as much as the fit.
Each time Baxter crossed the Pacific to return to Maui, she brought boxes of thrifted finds to upcycle. It’s in the blood. Her mother – an established industrial seamstress and accountant for an island interior design firm – has been saving discarded fabric samples and remnants for over a decade. And plastic bags were always washed and reused, Baxter said appreciatively, long before conserving was cool.
Back on island for good and at a crossroads, the young woman could either live with her parents and follow her true north or get some 9-to-5 job and likely still have a roommate. “That was a no-brainer,” Baxter said with a laugh. “Especially when that guiding star aligns with your own mother’s proven skills and experience.”
While sharing a home and workspace with your mom may not thread everyone’s needle, it’s been the gift Baxter didn’t even know she wanted. The months spent honing her craft and soaking up maternal wisdom (and a dash of chutzpah) handed down over generations wasn’t just a smart decision – it was the right decision.
Despite the economic fallout from the wildfires, Baxter sold more than 200 Winslow bags in her first year through monthly bag drops on social and custom orders, her current bread-and-butter and heart’s calling.
Working with clients in studio allows Baxter to create personalized works of luggable art from repurposed materials – denim from a vintage pair of Levi’s, a piece of curtain, an old car seat for the leather trim – of their choosing.
“One kid wanted a bag for his mother with ‘I love you, Mom’ embroidered on the inside,” said Baxter, her blue eyes misting as she sits cross-legged on the massive patchwork table where she will later spin straw into gold.
