Inside local business Adrina Dietra, owner Adrina Graham’s custom lingerie adorns the walls and clothing racks. On the floor of the store, Graham’s two young children sit drawing and playing. As a single mother and business owner, Graham’s store is a cumulation of all her passions.
“Being a single mom, it has been very difficult for me to split my time as evenly between my children and my work,” Graham said. “Being able to attend to their needs while also, of course, providing for them, has been my number one challenge.”
Graham moved her family to Ithaca, New York, over the past summer, and she hosted a few business pop-ups in the area while she worked in healthcare. Graham said she realized she needed more flexibility with her schedule to care for her special-needs children Alexzandria, 6, and Nautilus, 5.
She opened Adrina Dietra on June 27, 2019, in Press Bay Alley, which houses micro-retail stores. The store offers custom luxury lingerie and apothecary goods, all of which Graham makes. Graham, who is originally from New York City, attended the Fashion Institute of Technology until 2012, where she specialized in studying lingerie.
Graham designs and sells maternity wear, post-mastectomy wear, training bras and custom items for individuals who are transitioning. She said she aims to make garments that are high quality, so even if an individual’s body is in a temporary stage, their intimate apparel does not feel basic or thrown together.
“I wanted to be able to provide garments that were sizes that were inclusive to multiple people,” she said. “I also wanted to have a space that felt safe for people, be it that they were going through different stages in life or say, if they were transitioning.”
Creating a safe space is a goal Lo Water, an employee at Adrina Dietra, shares with Graham. She also recently moved to Ithaca from New York City.
“I’m a queer, black woman, and it’s important for me and my identity as well… to find spaces where I can exist in my being, and a lot of my community is queer and trans and nonbinary, and so I love this store, and spaces likes this…you can come in and be supported in your being,” Water said.
Adrina Dietra joins one of the nearly 13 million businesses owned by women in the United States. The ninth annual State of Women-Owned Business Report found that women-owned businesses represented 42% of all businesses in the U.S. in 2019. Those owned by women of color accounted for 50% of all women-owned businesses last year, according to the report.
The goal of the store has resonated with customers, since Graham said her second biggest challenge is keeping up with the orders demand. Adrina Dietra is also moving May 1 to a bigger retail space in Press Bay Court, which is adjacent to Press Bay Alley.
“I remember around when I first opened, someone said to me, ‘You must help make a lot of babies,’” Graham said. “Even stuff like that is hilarious, but it reassures you, ‘OK, cool.’”
