Stretchy, washable cashmere is putting Denver on the map as one of the first U.S. locations for a startup Canadian firm with a new spin on “athleisure” apparel.
Kit and Ace, based in Vancouver, British Columbia,is billing its trademarked Qemir (pronounced kuh-MEER) fabric as a hybrid of luxury and performance. It blends cashmere with other natural and synthetic fibers — chiefly viscose, cotton and elastane.
The company plans to open a 1,400-square-foot store in late June at 2621 Larimer St., in .
With trendiness come prices to match. Customers can expect to pony up $88 for what Kit and Ace describes as “technical cashmere” T-shirts for men and women.
The company was formed last year by Shannon Wilson, wife of , and JJ Wilson, his son from a previous marriage.
“Cashmere is very precious,” JJ Wilson said. “But we wanted to create that perfect blend between what is luxury and what is functional. Qemir is pre-shrunk, it’s washable, and it doesn’t pill. It takes away all the thought about how high-maintenance cashmere is.”
The chain now has five stores in Canada and has U.S. outlets in Manhattan and San Francisco. Denver is part of an eight-store U.S. expansion this summer. Wilson said plans call for another 30 locations in the next year.
The Denver store will follow the pattern of other Kit and Ace locations by initially limiting its product mix to T-shirts. Wilson said additional garments and fabric blends will be added over time.
“All of the products will have a cashmere element and a technical element,” he said.
Colorado’s myriad recreation opportunities make the state a prime market for developers and vendors of apparel with a high-tech sheen.
, which bills itself as “the microbrew of apparel,” recently rolled out a technology for weaving wind-blocking, waterproof membranes into wool-based garments.
Kit and Ace sees Colorado’s active lifestyle as a good match for its products.
Denver, and the RiNo location in particular, represents what Wilson describes as the company’s focus on “the emerging creative class and neighborhoods with a sense of newness and excitement.”
RiNo over the past decade has seen an explosion of residential, retail and restaurant development. The surge has brought vitality to the former industrial neighborhood but also has .
Retail broker Stuart Zall of The Zall Co., which represented Kit and Ace in the Denver lease, said the store’s arrival could be a precursor to other national retailers seeking nontraditional locations.
“This is redefining the nature of retail in rising neighborhoods like RiNo,” Zall said.
“These cutting-edge brands are not necessarily opening their stores in Cherry Creek or Park Meadows,” he said. “The millennial, high-tech kid does not want to be in the mall. That’s where his parents shop.”
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948, sraabe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/steveraabedp
