Mustang Daily Staff Report
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In a town filled with surf boutiques and women’s apparel, The Radlife is a new kind of boutique — one aimed at making its customers look “cool.”
“The Radlife is kind of anyone’s perception of what’s cool, so we try to have a brand that appeals to a lot of people,” unofficial brand spokeswoman Micaela Hichborn said. “But I would say our ideal customer is clean-cut, dresses well. Cool, I guess.”
Upon entering The Radlife, sandwiched between the Palm Theater and wine-and-ware shop Alegria downtown, customers will instantly notice the “cool” feeling Hichborn says the store exemplifies.
As far as the products go, The Radlife features screen-printed clothing, all from store co-founder Dillan McKnight’s design line of the same name. What makes the new store special though, is the store’s ability to produce all of its products “in house,” according to Hichborn.
The Radlife began as a discussion between friends at local graphic printing business Quality Signs and Graphics. There, The Radlife co-founders Austin Cook, McKnight and Hichborn hatched a plan to start a flagship business for McKnight’s established design line.
“(Cook) was like, ‘We can make our own custom apparel in house at Quality Signs and Graphics,’ and (McKnight) had a clothing line that we all liked and thought would do really well,” Hichborn said. “So with the combination of his design skills, and our ability to make the clothes in house, it was a really good combo.”
The Radlife, which took the lot vacated by Red Hot Pottery early this year, held its grand opening on Nov. 1, and featured local rapper KO The Legend.
“It was really busy here, so it was a really good grand opening for sure,” Hichborn said.
Now, a week after the grand opening, The Radlife is doing well, according to Hichborn, but it is still looking to cater more to Cal Poly students.
“For sure, we’ve had a few (students),” Hichborn said. “We’d like to have more. It’d be a really good brand for college students, especially the guys.”
Though the line is mainly aimed at males, ages 15 to 35, they are looking into branching out into more women’s products, Hichborn said. Until then, Hichborn said the target customer is “just cool.”
“(He is) laidback, doesn’t want to wear like surf or skate,” Hichborn said.
McKnight, who began his line in 2009, said he didn’t have a specific person in mind when creating his designs.
“I’ve been doing clothing for a long time,” McKnight said. “It just felt right. I don’t know how to really explain it. (I design for) everyone. My friends, people my age I guess.”
Overall, McKnight has a simple description for his line.
“It speaks for itself,” McKnight said. “It is what it is.”
Kaytlyn Leslie contributed to this article.