Specialties
Discover Squasht Boutique at the corner of West Chicago Ave. and North Rockwell St. in the Ukrainian Village of Chicago, IL. Whether you are looking to update your wardrobe or buy a gift for someone special, our unique, independent-designer-focused shop has exactly what you are looking for. We have something for everyone, including handmade dresses, jumpsuits, sweaters, pants, and cozy accessories, plus handmade jewelry like earrings, necklaces, and rings. Stop by today or shop online at SquashtBoutique.com. Shop local, shop handmade, shop Squasht.
History
Established in 2004.
Squasht, the apparel label, was founded by owner and designer Lesley Timpe in her home town, St. Louis, in October 2004 after attending Maestro Mateo Design School in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Upon her return to the U.S. Lesley found herself consumed by European inspirations that sparked her desire to create unique and wearable wardrobe additions. In July 2008, Lesley relocated the company to Chicago to consolidate with her production team there. Now happily based in Chicago, Squasht continues to grow, utilizing a business model based on wholesaling, booth sales, web sales, and retail. The entire Squasht collection is carefully handmade in Chicago. Squasht Boutique carries Squasht brand apparel and accessories plus the unique designs of dozens of other independent designers from near and far.
Meet the Business Owner: Lesley T.
The owner of Squasht Boutique, and the designer of Squasht clothing and accessories is Lesley Timpe. Lesley enjoys creating new designs from unusual fabrics, and incorporating unique textures such as rusching into many of her designs. Her favorite fabrics to work with are pyjama-soft knit rayon blends and vintage geometric prints (for the gaments), and silk tweeds (for the hats). She always marvels at the endless possibilities that fashion design affords her.
Besides designing Squasht and running the boutique, Lesley is a Hot Power Vinyassa Yoga addict, loves cooking soups and Thai food, going out to eat, enjoying the company of friends, and traveling. She remains obsessed with Spain, where she studied fashion design from 2001-2004. Luckily for her, she has been able to return to Spain a couple of times since then to get her fix of queso and vino.