Ypsilanti native Travis Weaver started developing the idea that became One DNA while studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he graduated in 2013.
One DNA owners Simon Black and Travis Weaver with Sydney. It was an easy move: They had a design studio and order fulfillment center upstairs. | Photo: J. Adrian Wylie
“I was exploring a lot with my fashion and was seeing the lines blurred between men’s and women’s wear, and I really wanted to create a brand that was inclusive,” explains the Lincoln High grad from his Nickels Arcade retail boutique, which opened on Juneteenth.
So named because “it’s inclusive to age, race, and gender,” One DNA germinated in 2017 as an e-commerce site featuring Weaver’s loungewear and mission-driven graphics, for which some profits benefit the National Women’s Law Center, among other advocacy organizations.
Along with life partner Simon Black and entrepreneur friend Sabrina Grandchamps, Weaver has managed to place his fashions into such retailers as Urban Outfitters, PacSun, and Nordstrom. They opened a retail shop in Ypsi in 2020 before retrenching last year into a design studio and order fulfillment center in the arcade’s second floor.
Long familiar with the historic covered corridor connecting State and Maynard and encouraged by the foot traffic below their office, “we saw that there was a lot of opportunity for our retail store to be down there,” he says. A cell phone repair shop’s departure created an opening, and rather than go overboard on renovation, Weaver wanted to “enhance the naturalness of the space, have it more like a gallery and an open environment” fostering both casual browsing and planned community events.
The boutique allows for wider merchandising of product lines than would be possible to individually model, photograph, and post online. “I really do think that there is something for everyone” among the “cool and trendy clothes” and accessories, he says. Popular items include heavy organic cotton sweatshirts, zero-waste mesh knit polos, and size-inclusive parachute pants fitting waists from twenty-six to forty-four inches. They prioritize working with factories demonstrating social responsibility, especially those led by women and persons of color.
“A lot of the clothes are meant to be things that you can wear simultaneously from working at home, as well as going about your day and running errands,” Weaver notes, adding that the store’s “at-home vibe” includes their family dog, a Shiba Inu named Sydney. (Black hails from Australia.)
Weaver is finding that arcade regulars “will just come out and say hello and just take a seat on one of our lawn chairs and just check their phone or take a phone call or read a book. So I’m really glad to see that people are really receptive to the space.”
Curating an in-person shop “help[s] us tell our message a lot more and also know what customers want,” he says, which in turn can aid wholesale and e-commerce aspects of the business. “I think it gives people a little bit more security when they know that you have a retail store, and they’ll be a little bit more likely to buy something online because they’re feeling a little bit more that this is a real company.”
One DNA, 12 Nickels Arcade, (734) 730–0948. Mon.–Sat. 11 a.m.–7 p.m., Sun. noon–6 p.m. onedna.earth