nothin Designer Brings Home L.A. Fashions | New Haven Independent

Designer Brings Home L.A. Fashions

Leonard Honeyman Photo

Westville Village is going avant-garde.

Rodrick Gilchrist Design, a hip Los Angeles clothing design studio and boutique, is moving into a Westville Village corner storefront that has been vacant since the old D’Andrea’s Pharmacy closed in late 2005.

That means one of the last ground-floor retail vacancies in the village will be filled.

Rodrick Gilchrist Design is the nom de guerre of Rodrick Williams (pictured), a 40-year-old New Haven native who went west to learn his trade and establish his reputation. His blog shows much of his work history.

On Friday, the tall, slim man was busy ironing. He was standing in the store at the corner of Whalley Avenue and Blake Street, ironing out issues with electricians and ironing some of the black men’s jackets and slacks that will join those already hanging on a pipe rack.

His women’s clothing is more colorful and already graced his store’s display windows.

Williams said he plans to open officially about the middle of the month. This week he plans a soft opening to meet the neighbors and wait on any customers who may wander in.

He and his wife and partner, Aysegul Ikna, 38, who prefers to be called A’isha, and 10-month-old daughter, Khloe Kiara, recently moved here from L.A. Although Williams started out in New Haven, working for former downtown stores, he said he went west as the next step to get hand-on training from places like the H. Lorenzo Boutique in Beverly Hills.

I wasn’t keen on raising children in L.A.,” he said. His plans include launching another line that he hopes to eventually show in New York and to continue his education with classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

Courtesy New Haven Economic Development

Williams chose Westville because of the retail atmosphere in comparison to downtown, which he said has been shifting over to restaurants and bars. What his store will look like is shown in schematic.

Westville also chose Williams. The D’Andreas rented to him after turning down a number of prospective tenants over the years, said Betsey D’Andrea, the matriarch of the family that owned the drug store since 1934.

We cared about what went in there,” D’Andrea said. She said her family turned down offers to rent the space over the years to a jazz club, a check-cashing place, and a convenience store, among others.

They wouldn’t contribute to the right mix for Westville and they would not have brought traffic into the area,” she said.

The family gave the stamp of approval after meeting first A’isha and then Rodrick and the baby.

They were so earnest in their endeavor, we thought it would attract people to the area. There was nothing around Westville like their store,” she said. She said the family found Rodrick ambitious and clever, and a good designer.”

I really hope they do well and I’m sure my husband would feel the same way,” she said of Michael D’Andrea, who ran the pharmacy until his death in 2005. Michael’s father, also named Michael, bought the business in 1934 and ran it until his death in 1982.

D’Andrea said the building her family still owns is at least 100 years old. It originally had been a Masonic temple and the store on the corner had been a pharmacy at least since 1919.” She said she remembers going there as a child to sit at the soda fountain and talk with friends and neighbors.

There used to be place called Mutual Auto that sold bikes and toys that children loved to go and look at, she said. A frame shop was sold and moved a couple of stores east. Upstairs in space now leased by the Church of Scientology were a dentist and architect and a woman who sold clothes.

I met my husband in the pharmacy. I knew the guy behind the soda fountain and used to hang out and talk to him. Michael asked who I was. I got a phone call and the rest is history,” she said.

Last Friday, Rodrick Williams was looking over the stone floor he had installed and planning how the shop would look. There is a two-man crosscut saw and two scythes (in photo with him) with handles painted black. They’ll hang from the embossed tin ceiling, half of which also was painted black.

From it would hang the clothing, which Williams described as classic with a twist. For example, a black denim tuxedo jacket could be worn as a suit when formality was not required. There also was a linen and leather number. He said his line is upscale, with a jacket and trousers costing around $500. He also is a tailor, so he can handle alterations.

What was a potential problem were the finances, he said. He’s paying a monthly rent of $1,800 the first year with annual increases in the five-year lease. He said he has money coming in from his clothing sales. His wife works as a financial analyst and earns a good salary, he said.

It’s coming together slowly but surely,” he said. I’m still doing business in L.A. That’s how we’re holding it together.” A planned juice bar and cafe will have to wait a few months, he said.

The city is helping clean the building’s façade with a grant from the government’s façade rehab program, said Clayton M. Williams Jr., small business development officer. After the work is done, the city will reimburse as much as $30,000 for the work improving the building’s exterior, Williams said.

The store is a welcome addition to the village after having been vacant for more than three years, said Steven Goodman (pictured), owner of Sally Goodman Ltd. Jewelers just east of the new store.

It’s better if it’s full,” he said of storefront, although Goodman said the vacancy had no effect on his store. He said he was happy to see the work being done on the brick structure. His store, at 901 Whalley Ave., had façade work done as part of a city matching-funds program five years ago.

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