John Zannini’s journey as a clothing designer began in the mountains.

“When I was in high school, the first thing I splurged on was a Gore-Tex jacket and a really good pair of mountaineering boots,” Mr. Zannini said this week, relaxing outside his clothing shop, Salt, on Lagoon Pond Road in Vineyard Haven.

With his long salt-and-pepper hair and wavy beard to match, Mr. Zannini does appear as if he might have just come down from a mountain retreat.

As an exchange student in college, Mr. Zannini explored the Peruvian Andes and designed sweaters that he sold at ski resorts around Vermont. He later attended grad school for journalism in New Mexico, but clothing design kept calling to him. He started a small company in New Mexico, and after some success, decided to take his chances in New York city. He landed a job as a designer at Polo Ralph Lauren.

Salt carries clothes, oil and vinegars and oak serving boards salvaged from the nearby Gannon and Benjamin shipyard. — Jeanna Shepard

“I started this thing called Polo Sport, which took off like a rocket ship,” Mr. Zannini said of the company’s well-known activewear brand. As the company’s design director for menswear, he oversaw the new product line from beginning to end, including all the accessories.

“Ralph’s whole vision was you need to see the whole thing completely through, from the initial concept all the way to the end,” Mr. Zannini said. “It’s your baby.”

Mr. Zannini’s work at Salt draws largely from his early years in New Mexico, his roots on the Vineyard, and his work for clothing companies like C.C. Filson in Seattle and the Hartford Denim Company, which have mastered the art of creating clothes that last a lifetime.

But as with many things Mr. Zannini does, the sky is the limit.

Inside the small shop located at 67 Lagoon Pond Road (a former Coast Guard barracks that was moved from Peaked Hill in Chilmark), Mr. Zannini wiped some dust off the front of an antique bakery case and surveyed the store’s inventory, piled on shelves, tables, racks and every other available surface. He made his way through the clutter and retrieved a colorful Pendleton blanket, the kind western settlers would have traded with the Navaho for hand-loomed rugs.

“The Navaho would raise the sheep, shear the sheep, card [the wool], spin it, dye it, then weave it into a rug,” he said. “And they were so happy trading for a machine-made blanket, because these were softer. . . . Who was getting the better end of that deal? They both were.”

Concert on Monday features Shawn Williams of New Orleans. Show starts at 8 p.m. — Jeanna Shepard

Along with vintage clothing, southwest Native American jewelry and Mr. Zannini’s own clothing designs, Salt carries original art from the days of the Art Workers Guild in Vineyard Haven (an artists’ collaborative that started in the early 1970s), heavy oak serving boards salvaged from the Gannon and Benjamin boatyard down the road, and many other items with an Island theme.

In recent years, the shop has also doubled as a concert venue, with Island performers such as Nina Violet, Jemima James, Willy Mason and Isaac Taylor playing to full crowds huddled on couches or around a wood stove in the winter.

The tradition continues this summer. This week, on July 10 and 11, Shawn Williams, a New Orleans-based singer-songwriter whose Facebook page describes her style as “alt-countrybilly serial killer blues” will perform. Monday night's show will be at an alternate location, 188 Waldron Bottom Road in West Tisbury, with Ms. Williams performing with Nina Violet. Tuesday's show is planned to take place at Salt. Both performances begin at 8 p.m.

“There used to be a lot more venues,” said Mr. Zannini, who spent many nights at the legendary Hot Tin Roof nightclub. He also noted the Art Worker’s Guild itself, which hosted dances and concerts. “If you are a painter, eventually you get yourself in a gallery,” he said. “But what I learned was there are all these musicians who had no place to play, so they play at their houses for each other.”

Clothes, music and food, what more does anyone want. Salt is located at 67 Lagoon Pond Road. — Jeanna Shepard

When Salt began hosting concerts a few years ago, people came out of the woodwork to perform. The unlikely venue has since become an underground hotspot for Island music, and Mr. Zannini has plans to bring it more into the mainstream.

Out on the lawn, he pointed to a pile of wood and debris behind the shop where he plans to build an outdoor stage for afternoon concerts overlooking Mud Creek. And he wants to do more to publicize those events ahead of time.

He also has plans for the shop itself, which until now has been something of a hidden gem for clothing aficionados. (Salt is your Island location for vintage Belstaff jackets, for example.)

“It’s always been a bit of a struggle.” he said of the business. “It’s in a tough location. It’s not on Main street. I’m not [always] here.” But his outlook changed after he moved to Aquinnah full-time in 2015. He noted, among other things, plans by the Martha’s Vineyard Museum to relocate to the old Marine Hospital just over the hill from Muddy Creek.

“Now with me being here full-time, and with the rise of the internet and with the museum right over there, I’m kind of like, now it’s time to give it an all-in effort, to bring this to fruition.”

His vision for Salt revolves around clothing, music and food, which he said all go hand-in-hand. In addition to filling out the store’s inventory and refining its brand identity, he has begun marketing his own salt, olive oils and vinegars, along with Salt-branded oyster knives. But there is much more to come, he said.

“I want to develop a whole new company based on making swimwear which is locally made and as totally organic as I can make it,” he said. At least some of the swimwear will be made from recycled material.

Mr. Zannini bought the old Coast Guard building that houses Salt from David and Angelina Whittemore (Mr. Whittemore was a beloved jazz musician). Looking ahead, Mr. Zannini sees the new Salt as carrying on Mr. Whittemore’s legacy, and also that of the former Art Workers Guild, and the vibrant culture that it helped foster on the Island.

“It was a time when there was a lot of creativity and a lot of music everywhere,” he said. He added: “I’m much happier on the music nights than any other time. Because I love bringing everyone together. And besides, the music is amazing.”