Proprietary fabrics! Scientific and intentional! Technical luxury™!

Well, yesterday I was all about the Airstream. Then I remembered that, last week, I’d actually seen a commercial Airstream, not the shiny aluminum one, but one tricked out in copper. It was parked on Charles Street. What was it, I asked myself? It was labeled The Copper Studio, and Kit and Ace, and so I was able to find that The Copper Studio is the touring manifestation of Kit and Ace, and that Kit and Ace are actually the wife and son of Chip Wilson, who brought us lululemon. Only their names aren’t really Kit and Ace, but that’s beside the point:

During their time spent traveling and living internationally, JJ and Shannon recognized a void in the luxury apparel industry. Afer spending years dressed head to toe in stretchy performance wear, they wee looking for clothing that offered the same functionality but that met their desire for sophistication, style and luxury. Since they couldn’t find what they were looking for, they created it. (Source:Kit and Ace)

And they’re doing it with Technical Luxury™, “proprietary fabrics that are scientific and intentional.” First up: Technical Cashmere™.

If there’s anything I can’t abide, it’s a non-intentional fabric. I do not want it anywhere near my body. (Note to self: check and see if Gwyneth Paltrow is on their board.)

Even once I knew who they were, I still wondered what they were doing in my ‘hood.

Why? We want to meet you. Before we set up shop in your cities we want to get a feel for your neighbourhoods, your architecture, your tastemakers. And we want you to kjnow us. We keep saying how soft Technical Cashmere™ is – but feeling is believing.

When I spotted the Copper Studio, it was pretty early in the morning – 6:45 a.m. – and I was on my way to a mammogram, So perhaps that’s why they didn’t spot me as a tastemaker.

And then I remembered that they’re the spawn of lululemon, and would probably regard me as out of their range, size-wise. Thus, something of a bad tastemaker.

We are not committed to standard industry sizing, but we are committed to size integrity.

And size integrity says that a woman’s size 10 is a large, and they just don’t do extra large. Sizing, like fabric, can be intentional.

Alas, this relegates those of us who are lululemon-challenged to Hawaiian print muumuus, when, in truth, we should really be robing ourselves in the nice neutral, pay-no-attention-to-the-fat-lady blacks and greys that they specialize in. So when I realized that they’d opened a pop-up shop on Charles Street, I just gave it a glance as I walked by. Why bother to go in for some “feeling is believing” if there’s no Technical Cashmere™ integrity-sized for us?

I’m not that far off their L, but even if I do squeeze by on their other axes of size (hip and bust), I don’t tend to have a defined waist even under the most svelte of times.

Oh, well. Even if I do manage to waste away, would I really want to patronize an outfit that’s so precious, so intentional?

Nah. Guess I’ll stick with my non-technical LL Bean tees. Plenty intentional enough for me.