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Mirror, Mirror: Kit & Ace's latest store wants the full-contact client

According to Kit & Ace founders Shannon and J.J. Wilson, I'm the poster woman for the full-contact lifestyle. I'm up about 6:30ish for a run or to take a class at Focus Barre. Then it's off to work for eight to 10 hours. Evenings are filled with work-related soirees that involve cocktails and photo shoots in front of step-and-repeats more likely to make their way to social media before I make my way home, which sometimes is after 9 p.m.

The new Kit & Ace in Fishtown, started by the wife and son of Lululemon's founder, offers easy-to-wear men's and women's clothes in washable cashmere.
The new Kit & Ace in Fishtown, started by the wife and son of Lululemon's founder, offers easy-to-wear men's and women's clothes in washable cashmere.Read moreJEFF FUSCO / For the Philadelphia Inquirer

According to Kit & Ace founders Shannon and J.J. Wilson, I'm the poster woman for the full-contact lifestyle.

I'm up about 6:30ish for a run or to take a class at Focus Barre. Then it's off to work for eight to 10 hours. Evenings are filled with work-related soirees that involve cocktails and photo shoots in front of step-and-repeats more likely to make their way to social media before I make my way home, which sometimes is after 9 p.m.

So I need clothes that both complement my curves and feel like pajamas. That is why the new Kit & Ace boutique, nestled within blocks of bars on Frankford Avenue in fashion-starved Fishtown, touches my stylish soul.

Although the fashion isn't particularly architectural or cutting-edge, Kit & Ace offers solid-hued, perfect-for-layering, men's and women's Ts; easy-to-wear dresses (some with ruching, others with turtlenecks); and tailored men's trousers and joggers (some with crotch vents, some without).

And nearly everything in Kit & Ace's latest location, a well-lighted, 2,800- square-foot space, skims the body and is incredibly soft to the touch. That's because the founders - the wife and son of Lululemon founder Chip Wilson - make the majority of their 18-month-old line from technical cashmere.

Technical cashmere, an Italian-made cotton and cashmere blend, is the Wilsons' magic fabric. It's machine washable, doesn't shrink, keeps its shape (even after sitting in a cubicle all day), and get this: Does. Not. Pill.

"We wanted to wear fashion, and we wanted it to perform," said J.J. Wilson, 26, who said he knew he had stumbled upon textile perfection when one of his samples felt like whipped cream in his fingers.

"It's light and beautiful with the perfect amount of drape and stretch," Wilson said.

Thus, the clothing falls into the category of being a bit beyond affordable. Although dresses and men's pants are about $200, cardigans and wraps - some made from 100 percent cashmere - range from $400 to $500.

The Philadelphia Kit & Ace - which will celebrate its grand opening Thursday evening with a party - is the Wilsons' 36th store, and, like their other boutiques, features furniture and art from local crafts people.

Its solid steel and wood chairs are courtesy of furniture-makers at Studio Cidra, and its wooden table - where the store plans to serve its signature, monthly supper-club meals - was built by artists at Kole Made, a studio in Old City.

The milk glass and recycled-copper light fixtures are the work of Ian Chapin from Edsel, also in Fishtown.

"We look for areas that have a creative class," said Wilson, who added that the company allocated about $50,000 for its hyper-local accessories. (Other stores are on Newbury Street in Boston, and in New York's Nolita and SoHo neighborhoods.) "We want our shops to feel like they are part of the community, but we have a general color palette, so that the shop feels consistent to Kit & Ace."

Kit & Ace's fast growth has coincided with the explosion of athletic-inspired clothing in men's and women's wear, a trend, no coincidence, that Lululemon is credited with kicking off. (However, I hope Kit & Ace doesn't do the sheer legging thing.)

But J.J. Wilson - who earned a bachelor's degree in commerce, entrepreneurship, and retail management from Ryerson University, one of Canada's most prestigious fashion schools - says Kit & Ace is a more functional line of everyday clothing, rather than a collection of pieces people can work and work out in.

"It's about understanding the way people move all day," J.J. Wilson said.

Hence the name Kit & Ace. Like Barbie and Ken and FLOTUS and POTUS, the moniker is a prototype of the company's perfect customer: She's on the go. He craves comfort. They have a full-contact lifestyle.

Just call me Kit.

ewellington@phillynews.com

215-854-2704

@ewellingtonphl

Kit & Ace is at 1424 Frankford Ave., 844-548-6223, www.kitandace.com.