Markeshia Ricks Photo
Ninth Square fashion designer (by way of Jamaica) Neville Wisdom is taking his design studio back to where it all began for him — well not exactly that far back. He’s heading back to Whalley Avenue in Westville Village, where he first owned a boutique in 2008, to expand his studio.
Wisdom’s not abandoning his studio space at 63 Orange St. in the historic Ninth Square. He’s expanding.
The lead designer of the brand that bears his name said he needs more room to create and launch what he hopes are the beginnings of bigger, small-scale manufacturing of his brand, right here in New Haven. Up until a year and a half ago, Wisdom designed much of his clothing line in Jamaica. He and his brother owned the building where he produced his clothes, and he would go down there for several months to make them. But Wisdom said as his business has grown, the need to be in the United States to oversee it also has grown.
Wisdom, who also owns a boutique in Branford, found that extra room in the former business offices of The Church of Scientology at 903 Whalley Ave., about 4,800 square feet of it to be exact. In comparison, the Orange Street Studio is 1,521 square feet. He said the new space will allow him to produce men’s clothing and a wider variety of women’s clothing including more jersey fabric dresses and T‑shirts.
“We’re building a state-of-the-art design studio,” Wisdom said. “And it’s not necessarily going to be just for our use but for other designers. We don’t see this as a competition, we want to reach out to people in our industry and allow them to use our facilities to create their samples.”
In addition to expanding the manufacturing end of his own business and providing design space for other designers, Wisdom said, he envisions the new design studio as a teaching space where he can offer sewing classes and workshops particularly for children in the city. It also will provide additional boutique space.
Wisdom said he plans to outfit his new studio with upgraded equipment such as a digitizer, sewing machines and a buttonhole machine, with the help of a one-year matching express grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development. He said similar grants are out there for small businesses like his that are looking to upgrade and expand. He credits the city’s Office of Economic Development for informing him about the state’s Small Business Express program.
He and his staff of four design and manufacture the Neville Wisdom brand. They do a lot of work by hand. Wisdom said while that means every piece is unique, it also means it is harder to scale his business that not only serves customers in New Haven and Connecticut. It also makes it harder to grow the business beyond Connecticut.
While Wisdom doesn’t plan to give up all of the hands-on aspects of clothes designing and manufacturing, the new studio and the equipment will allow him and his staff to automate certain aspects of manufacturing his clothes that he can’t do in his current studio. With the grant and the new space, Wisdom plans to add two more employees to his staff.
With the design studio set to open sometime in April, Wisdom said he’s busy transforming the space and unearthing much of the building’s original character such as its intact and scuffed hardwood floors. He said he loves having people stop by to visit at the Orange Street location. But it does often distract him because the gregarious designer likes to chat with the people who come through his doors.
“People love to stop by here and chat, and the clutter,” he said, “they don’t mind, but it drives me insane. Also, at the end of the day I am an artist, and I have got to get my work done.”
As if he weren’t busy enough with the new design studio renovation, Wisdom also is planning his annual fashion show to unveil his spring collection. The show will take place April 3. Fans of his designs can expect things to be a bit different from the past. This is his third spring fashion show, and the first time that the event will be held indoors.
The owners of a 100,000 square-foot building at 95 Orange St. offered to play host to the fashion show this year. In the past he has worked with the Town Green Special Services District, but it wasn’t able to partner with him for the event this year. Wisdom said not only does the large place offer an opportunity to do something different with the fashion show like including other kinds of art, such as the culinary arts, but it also allows the owners to show off the space, which they are offering for rent.
Wisdom said the city has embraced his business and he wants to do his part in showcasing other artists and the other cool things that are happening here.
“New Haven has been good to me, and I want to give back,” he said. “Everything is not about making money. I just want people to be aware of how cool this community is and how many people are working their ass off to make it really cool.”