In honor of Black History Month, The Michigan Daily’s Business beat spent the month speaking with Black business owners in the Ann Arbor community about their experiences and stories. Read the other articles here.
Nestled within the walls of the historic Nickels Arcade sits One DNA. With a mission to provide gender-neutral and size-inclusive clothing, the shop’s sleek interior invites passersby to stop in and look around. Upon entering, customers are greeted by founder Travis Weaver and their 3-year-old Shiba Inu, Sydney.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Weaver said his dream to work in the fashion industry began while spending time at his aunt’s hair salon in Ypsilanti as a kid. On the weekends, he would sit and flip through fashion magazines with his mom while she got her hair done. Though his passion for fashion started young, Weaver said he only felt motivated to open a shop like One DNA in college after feeling unhappy with his shopping experiences in other stores.
“I decided to start One DNA because I wanted to create an inclusive shopping experience,” Weaver said. “The hole in the market for me was when I was in college, I’d go shopping … and then always would be directed to the men’s department. So (as) someone who is gender fluid, I wanted to shop the whole store because I find shopping more about finding the piece that you like and then finding the size versus feeling limited to a gender section. … We really wanted to create a unique experience that’s open to all genders.”
After graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago with a degree in fashion marketing management, Weaver moved to New York to pursue fashion. Weaver said One DNA originally began as a side gig while they worked full-time in the fashion industry. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Weaver moved back to Michigan to run One DNA full-time. Until June, the business was primarily an online shop and wholesaler appearing in stores including Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom and PacSun, and publications including American Vogue and Highsnobiety.
Weaver said opening the storefront has given them the opportunity to engage with their customers in a new way.
“The store has been really good in the sense of meeting our community,” Weaver said. “We’re really all about offering a unique experience as well as offering a high level of customer service, so it’s been really good to meet customers and engage them in that way as well as connecting them to the right piece and right size.”
Weaver said since the start of the school year, the business has become more involved in the Ann Arbor and U-M communities. They have collaborated with numerous student groups and businesses, hosting panel discussions, pop-up shops and charity events, among other community-focused activities. Weaver said these events aimed to build community because One DNA also operates as a community gathering space.
“I think the duality (of the space) has been good for our company to host such unique events,” Weaver said. “It’s been a really good experience for us as well as a good opportunity for students to have a space that they can highlight their different clubs and projects that they’ve worked on.”
Weaver said they focus on curating pieces that follow popular trends but also on ensuring the final garments are timeless and made to last when designing. The majority of One DNA’s clothing is designed in-house, but when they occasionally feature wholesale from other brands, they prioritize sourcing from small Queer, women or Black-owned businesses.
“I design, I would say in our store, like 80% of the products,” Weaver said. “We wholesale other people’s products (too). We work with some local jewelry designers here in the Midwest and we are buying candles and fragrances for from local small and ethical companies. … When we’re looking for other products to carry, we’re looking for Queer-owned businesses, Black-owned businesses (and) women-owned businesses, so that’s really important to find smaller companies to collaborate with.”
Weaver said One DNA’s existence in the community as a small Black and Queer-owned business is necessary to ensure a diverse market.
“It is definitely challenging running a small business and there (have) been times that I’ve wanted to give up, but I don’t want it to be that there’s only large corporations that occupy a retail space,” Weaver said. “I think there should be opportunity for a person of Color, a small business and so that’s why we’ve kind of felt it really important to have a presence in a community … so people can see someone that looks like me doing it.”
Daily News Editor Rebecca Lewis can be reached at rebeccl@umich.edu.
