When Camila Thompson was given the opportunity to open her own store, she needed to act fast.
In December 2014, her friend Mary Petrin, who also owns the neighboring Collage, wanted to move to Ireland for a while. She was looking to sublet the space at 1331 18th St., a vintage store formerly known as Kate's Closet.
In just two weeks, Thompson transformed the space into Gaelan Boutique, building her inventory almost exclusively from her friends, many of whom are local jewelry makers and clothing designers.
This organic collaboration of local producers of handmade items would set the tone for the overall vibe at Gaelan, and Thompson's reverence for high-quality domestic production is no less present in her store today.
Thompson, who's originally from Mountain View, learned to alter clothes at an early age from her mother, beginning with her homemade Halloween costumes. Eventually, she would custom-tailor nearly all her own clothing, as well as make clothes to sell in concert parking lots.
"I was a total hippie, and would make clothes and sell them at Grateful Dead concerts," she recalled. "It was funny, because at that point, specific sizes didn't really matter—I was making long, flowy dresses and capes and things like that."
Thompson moved to San Francisco in 2000, and has been living on Potrero Hill ever since. At first, she attended FIDM, but ended up working closely with many different local designers, including Susan Hengst and Theresa Olson, cutting her teeth in production and in the retail environment.
She attributes part of her know-how as a shopkeep to the time she spent working at Hayes Valley's Ver Unica. "I think a lot about knowing clothing is knowing about period pieces, and what influences what. I learned a lot of that at Ver Unica."
Gaelan carries goods for men, women, and children, with a focus on small-batch, locally produced items. For Thompson, it's important that, when possible, the person selling her the item is also the person who made the item.
Thompson directly purchases jewelry from Sonja Rose B, many of whose pieces are one-of-a-kind. Other goods include woven necklaces from Rachel T Robertson, baby clothing by Albert Road, and handmade footwear by Heather Marie Heaton. In the men's department, she carries button-ups from Taylor Stitch and accessory items from Joshu + Vela.
Opening Gaelan was not without its challenges. The store is named after Thompson's son, who was just a few months old when she started the business. She and her partner Aran Healy (who owns Ruby Wine, just down the street) had no paternity or maternity leave, and they had to be creative in caring for their child as they set up shop.
"I literally opened the store with a child strapped to me," said Thompson.
However, she also reported that it was cool to be a new parent in the neighborhood, and that she continues to receive child-rearing tips and and other pieces of advice from people who come into her store.
"I've learned so many things from my customers. Some of them have become my friends, and I hadn't had that experience working in other stores," Thompson told us. "There are also just a lot more kids. This baby boom is in full effect."
While Thompson has no desire to leave the neighborhood, she would eventually like a slightly larger space that would allow her to do alterations to the items she sells. She provides this as a free service to her customers, but she currently does them at her house, because she doesn't have room at the store.
But cozy quarters aside, Thompson loves running her business on 18th Street, and describes the Potrero Hill neighborhood as a village. "People help each other, support each other. A lot of people never leave the hill, and we all shop at one another's stores," she told us.
