Luxury travel clothing boutique Wheat lands in Dover

The idea for Wheat, the new luxury clothing and travel goods boutique in downtown Dover, was fostered in the snowy White Mountains of New Hampshire.  

On their first date, co-owners Huw Collins and Molly Shaheen traveled together from California to New Hampshire, Shaheen’s home state, for Christmas break at the Mountain View Grand, a historic hotel nestled in Whitefield. 

Collins, an actor who hails from rainy London, was taken aback by the wintry weather. 

”I hadn’t seen snow in the longest time. And I’ll never forget flying into Boston. I remember, vividly, Molly’s parents came, picked us up and we drove up. And it was snowing. And I was like, ‘this is pretty magical,’” says Collins. 

The couple, who eventually married, found their personal versions of traveling in comfort and style were as diverse as New England’s unpredictable weather. 

Shaheen, a clothing designer originally from New Hampshire, prefers wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts on flights. Collins, who played Dr. Elliott Rollins in “Pretty Little Liars,” favors more structured, buttoned clothing when flying.  

The two used their contrasting sensibilities to create curated clothing lines for Wheat, offering luxury travelers a balance between comfort, softness and style. 

“We really do have something that you can wear on a flight that feels like it has a form and an elegance to it, whilst also allowing you to remain comfortable. We always talk about anything we make having both obviously an aesthetic appeal, but also a practicality underpinning it. I really, truly think we have designed and created something that harnesses both of those ideals,” Collins says. 

Before Wheat, Shaheen ran a clothing line for several years, troubleshooting what worked and what didn’t. As her designs were warmly received by hotels and spas she regularly partnered with, catering to affluent customers made sense.  

“We started to develop this idea of putting together a multi-brand store that would service the luxury traveler,” Shaheen says.  

To reach some of its audience, Wheat partners with lavishly styled hotels and boutiques across the U.S. and the Caribbean, including the Four Seasons Anguilla, Four Seasons Lanai, and the Faraway Hotel in Martha’s Vineyard.  

Shaheen and Collins say Wheat’s clothing aesthetic caters to travelers’ “wanderlust” by keeping customers prepared for weather extremes while in the skies and on the tarmac, traveling, say, from the chilly slopes of Telluride to the warm beaches at Lāna’I.  

Samantha Koellmer of Dover browses items in Wheat’s new store location in downtown Dover. “I love athleisure clothing, so this is perfect,” Koellmer says of the Dover store. She particularly loves Wheat’s clothing, which she says is “so soft.” Photo by Emily Reily

Clothing styles include comfy pants, sweatshirts, blazers, V-neck shirts, lounge pants, unisex hoodies, T-shirts and long-sleeved shirts. They’re all designed, custom-knit, manufactured and sewn in Los Angeles using mainly sustainable fabric sources like modal thermal, in calming, neutral shades like heather gray, heather ash, and navy. 

“On average, 95 percent of our fabric is modal. It’s a sustainable, eco, natural fiber. We don’t do any fast fashion, we do small batch productions,” Shaheen says. 

The company also uses recycled paper hang tags and biodegradable bags instead of plastic poly bags.  

“(The environment is) definitely something that we’re mindful of,” says Shaheen. 

Wheat releases four clothing collections annually, and each style is named after a location.  

“Rather than just sticking a dot on a map and finding a name, we try and put some thought into that storytelling behind each of the names,” says Collins. 

For example, their Los Angeles line includes sweatpants, and their “London” jacket for $246 provides more structure; thus reflecting both Collins and Shaheen’s sensibilities. 

“We have a new casual jacket that we’re bringing out, which is called the London jacket. It’s a little bit more sartorial, it has a slightly more defined shape to it. I’m originally from England, so I saw nods to my home city. And the Los Angeles jogger is a sweatpant jogger style, which is a nice casual pant, but also can be dressed up,” says Collins. 

“It feels like it’s appropriately named for the City of Los Angeles, because that’s a style that feels in keeping with the lifestyle of Los Angeles,” Collins adds.  

Clothing prices generally range from $68 to $246. For example, the Denver mock neck thermal, a cotton/modal thermal blend that can be paired with the Telluride pant, costs $142. The Brentwood short retails for $88. Clothing for kids, meanwhile, ranges from $68 to $88. To reinforce their traveling theme, their fragrances, named after points on the compass, sell for $58 each. Corresponding hand-poured candles retail for $50 each.  

Wheat’s first New Hampshire location, which opened in September at 386 Central Ave., Dover, is already profitable, according to Margaret Moran, account executive with michele marie pr. Wheat is financed with “out of profit” sources and family members’ investments. During COVID, the company also procured a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). 

Wheat’s new Dover shop and back offices, in the former Nicole’s Hallmark store, was a personal move for Shaheen. 

”The former Nicole’s space that’s now Wheat, I used to shop in when I was little, and loved going into. When I saw it sitting vacant for so long, I reached out to see what we could do with it. It just felt like the right next step for us,” Shaheen says. 

Samantha Koellmer of Dover shows off a gold-plated aventurine ring by Gorjana that she bought at Wheat recently. Gorjana is among dozens of fashion brands sold at Wheat. Koellmer’s mom works at the Dover location. Photo by Emily Reily

But Shaheen is closely linked with Dover in other ways. Her mother, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, has an office nearby, and Shaheen’s dad, Bill, operates a law office in the city. 

“I have a lot of family history there; a lot of family roots. My grandfather was born across the street. My father has worked there. My mom has a Senate office down the street. It’s really close to where we live,” Shaheen says.  

“Because we started the business in New Hampshire, we really wanted to have a stronger presence. Most of our home office team is based in New Hampshire, so we wanted to have a great central location for everyone to come together and work.” 

With about 1,000 square feet of retail space, the downtown shop offers denim clothing, outerwear, children’s books, gifts, candles, fragrances and more. 

The designers at Wheat plan to make the most out of New Hampshire — and Dover’s — cultural idiosyncrasies. For example, instead of embroidering “Dover” on snuggly sweatshirts, they stitched the phrase “Dovah.” The sweatshirt sells for $88 and is on sale in the Dover location.  

Wheat also offers dozens of brands including Rag & Bone, I Stole My BF’s Shirt, Christian LaCroix, Michael Stars, Spanx and Jellycat.  

Shaheen and Collins are considering more Dover-centric apparel for 2024 for a possible fall/winter line; another New England location, in Chestnut Hill, Boston, is being planned.