Inside the Project

The After Party

Check out the action from the after party for the ICA's Experiment at Achilles, hosted by our good friends at Karmaloop, here. Too bad Shepard couldn't make it. 

spring preview.

a few weeks ago casey, jakub and i shot an ad that will be featured in the upcoming issue of stuff at night.  of course, casey and jakub were my lovely models and i photographed and styled.  later, jakub photoshopped one of the images into the ad that will be out in early february.  

here and some of our favorite photos of the day.  i made them small so they wouldn't get cut off, so click on them for a better view.

on casey:  daryl k dress, helmut lang tee and leather jacket.

on jakub:  acne jeans long sleeve tee, nice collective scarf, sabintino cardigan, nudie jeans.

sale! sale! sale! off the rack sale.

right now in the boutique our fall collections are all half off.

but... this weekend we're having a huge "off the rack" blowout sale with past seasons' collections majorly discounted.  everything is going to be around 70% off or more!

if you don't come by you'll be missing out on some of the best deals and finds of the year.

click on the flyer to enlarge.

trade show.

last monday shaka and i went to the javis center in new york to check out intermezzo.  it's one of the bigger trade shows on the east coast where hundreds of brands are represented. 

we walked up and down the isles of clothes, shoes, and accessories looking for brands that would be right for achilles.

one of our favorites of the day was monrow.  monrow makes super soft jersey clothing for women.  i immediately started scouring their racks.  

 

 

we love the slightly abstract graphic tees with prints of blown-out flowers, scarves and burnt out animal prints.  we got a great selection of tees, so come in later this spring to check out monrow.

it was epic. it was new years. it is 2009.

we hope you joined us for new year's eve!  

if you didn't, you missed out. 

special thanks to tony osgood for being our resident photographer for the night, and erica corsano because i stole a few photos from her facebook page.

click on the photos to see the full sized images- the blog cuts them off.

 

we hope you had as much fun as we did!

see you at the next bash.

New Year's Eve With The Achilles Project

We're sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled dose of Adrienne...

So much to do before the year ends. Here's what's happening on December 31st at The Achilles Project:

From 12pm to 5pm, Achilles will be hosting New Brahmin's New Year's Eve Prep Party. $40 gets you a half hour makeup session with a Fresh makeup artist, 60% off "editor's picks" at the store, $50 off tickets for The Achilles Project's New Year's Eve party (not to be combined with any other deal), a complimentary glass of champagne and a gift bag filled with goodies from Fresh, Persephone, the Brattle Theatre and an exclusive mix by DJ Beyonder to get you in the mood to party. All proceeds go directly to Artists for Humanity's Fashion Studio. Space is limited and appointments are necessary. Call the store to book your appointment today at 617.423.3357 x2.

Chef Michael Leviton will be preparing a 4-course prix fix meal for the final dinner of the year. Dinner service will begin at 5:30pm, with our last seating at 11pm. The menu is $70 before 9pm, $80 after. Wine pairings are available. The menu is as follows:

Island Creek Oysters on the half shell, traditional accompaniments, or

Raincrow Ranch Grass-Fed Beef Marrow-Potato Croquette, Braised Beef Ragout and Spicy Horseradish Aioli, or

Potato Gnocchi, Wild Mushrooms, Pecorino & Gremolata

 

Stonington Maine Lobster Soup, Steeped Lobster and Smoked Paprika- Lobster Cream, or

Roasted Pear Salad, Hearts of Escarole, Walnuts and Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese, Sherry-Walnut Vinaigrette, or

Seared Pasture Raised Veal Carpaccio, Tonnato Sauce and Grilled Bread

 

Wild Maryland Striped Bass, Celery Root Puree, Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts, Sage Brown Butter Sauce, or

Organic Poussin, Wild Mushrooms, Roasted Potatoes, Pearl Onions & Bacon, Thyme jus, or

Niman Ranch Beef Bavette Steak, French Fries, Beef Jus and Aged Balsamic Vinegar

 

Pomegranate Sorbet, Champagne Sabayon and Orange Shortbread, or

Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Tropical Fruit Salad, Peppered Cashews and Sweet Cream Ice Cream, or

Chocolate-Chestnut Cake, Candied Chestnuts, Rum Caramel and Chestnut Ice Cream

Most importantly, our first ever New Year's Eve party at The Achilles Project is from 8pm to 3am! Tickets are available for purchase for $100 before the event ($120 night of). Tickets include 2 complimentary drinks. Combo tickets are available for $150 that includes the party and our dinner menu. Anyone buying their New Year's outfit at Achilles will receive $50 off their ticket purchase (not to be combined with the New Brahmin deal). Here's what to look forward to as you bring in 2009 in style with us:

* Music by The Bladerunners

* Signature New Year's cocktails

* Champagne toast at midnight

* Small bites from Persephone's kitchen from 8 to 9pm

* Breakfast served at 2am

* Gift bag upon departure of the party

Co-founder Michael Krupp claims the night will be "like hanging out with Bacal, Bogart and Monroe... in a Prince video... directed by Michael Bay... with really really really great cocktails". Although formal attire is not required, it is strongly suggested.

Call Persephone today at 617.423.2237 x 3 or email events@achilles-project.com to reserve your tickets and/or dinner reservation.

We'll see you on the dancefloor!

Back to you, Adrienne...

buyer's life.

 

(me checking out a shirt in the mc q by alexander mcqueen showroom)

the main thing to know about being a buyer is that there's a lot of traveling.  all the showrooms are in new york so every few months we go back and forth to get everything we need for the upcoming season.

fashion seasons are a little different than real seasons.  we have spring, pre fall, fall, and holiday/ resort.  we do the buying over six months before the actual season is upon us.  right now we're buying for pre fall, which ships in june.  after we see the samples of the clothing in the showroom and placing our orders, all the clothing gets made and is ready just in time for shipping.

mc q by alexander mcqueen is exclusive to us in the boston area.  it's also one of our favorite and best selling lines here at achilles.  for this season the line has been borrowing straight from the main line, even snatching some of the exact same cuts and styles off the runway; just in not as luxe fabrics as alexander mcqeen uses.  the main line pieces go for thousands of dollars, mcq offers the same iconic feel at a contemporary price point.

the hardest thing about doing a buy is remembering that it's not all for me.  there are some pieces that i love that probably wouldn't sell.  the super high waited red tartan mini shorts with lace up sides is a little more betty page (r.i.p.) than the typical boston girl so i was forced to give them up. 

the collection was pure alexander mc queen.  there was a British pirate flare, with ruffles, pencill skirts and military blazers.  definitely not your seinfeld puffy shirt.  there were great dresses, from a strapless jacquard dress with sculpted hips, tee shirt dresses with asymmetrical hemlines and graphic dresses covered in a net print.  they took an actual net, xeroxed it, and turned it into an amazing red and blue fabric.  the collection may have been mc q's strongest yet.

shaka (achilles co-owner and head buyer) and i  made our picks then watched as a super hot model paraded out in front of us wearing them.  we got to see how they fit and talked with our rep about what has been selling and what will be getting a lot of press.  we then put all our picks on a rack to see if they look cohesive together. once happy with our choices we marked them all down so we could later place our official order. 

i can't wait till june when we'll have mc q pre fall in store and up on our webstore.  i will definitely be sporting a lot of this collection around boston.

filippa k interview (that i didn't conduct)

i like to start my mornings by hitting the snooze button about three times.  then i like to roll over, grab my iphone, check my email, and read the style.com stylefile blogs.  yesterday i happened upon an interview with filippa k founder filippa knutsson.  filippa k's men's and women's lines are currently exclusive to the achilles project in boston.  i cut and pasted parts of the article for your enjoyment.  they also mention fellow swedish designers acne and fifth ave shoe repair which are other achilles favorites. 

enjoy!

If people in the United States know one Swedish fashion brand, they know H&M. But Stockholm is also bursting with edgier—and much costlier—lines like Acne, Hope, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair. Filippa K seems to sit somewhere in the middle. Is that a niche you’ve consciously carved out for the brand?
Well, when I started Filippa K in 1993, it was only because at the time, there were pieces I wanted to wear that I just couldn’t find. I was working for my dad’s denim company and launched with a pair of stretch jeans that became “the thing” in Sweden. After that we grew quite rapidly. I think there was a void waiting to be filled, and we filled it. The thing about Sweden is, there are maybe five companies like H&M that are all about super-cheap clothes and lots of turnover, and then there have always been a few high-end designers. But we were really the first independent brand that made fashion-conscious clothes at an affordable price. And we inspired a lot of other brands to follow in our footsteps.

I understand you recently opened a secondhand store for Filippa K clothes in Stockholm. What’s that all about?
Yes, we opened the secondhand store in June. The idea came out of an environmental brainstorming session. Like any company that’s concerned about these things, we’ve spent a lot of energy thinking about how we source, how we produce, how we distribute, but it suddenly struck us that we’d given almost no thought to what happens to Filippa K clothes once they’ve sold. Creating our own secondhand market seemed like an easy way to do something green.

I am sincerely impressed: That secondhand Filippa K shop may be the single smartest eco-initiative I’ve encountered, at least in terms of fashion and retail. But do you worry about losing customers who might otherwise have bought new?
No, I don’t worry. I think the secondhand reinforces customers’ relationship with Filippa K. In any case, the shop has done astonishingly well. We don’t take everything people bring in, and if something hasn’t sold in two months, we give it back. In other words, we keep an eye on our selection.

Are you also working on greening the brand from the back end?
The environmental stuff is so complex. In general, we do what we can and try not to talk about it too much. I don’t want to give anyone the idea that we’re a totally eco brand, because we’re not. But we have managed to get our very basic stuff, like our tees, ecologically certified. Because that’s the highest volume part of the Filippa K business, it makes a difference. Then there are small things we do, like separate our trash, provide bikes for people to take to meetings, and if it’s raining, we call an environmentally friendly cab. We pay attention to the human aspect, too, not just the green.

Filippa K is a firmly established brand in Europe. At this point, are you primarily focused on developing the brand in new markets, or are there categories within the line that you’d still like to develop?
We added shoes to the line recently. They’ve been successful in Sweden but it’s just now that the range seems to be coming into its own. I’m not sure what’s next. Even in terms of opening more stores, that’s a question. It’s not like we’re developing plans for a shop in New York. As I said, we don’t rely too much on a corporate strategy. Or, I guess you could say that Filippa K’s corporate strategy is to keep taking one day at a time.

—Maya Singer

 

(from style.com)

daryl k & kerrigan.

this holiday season we're welcoming one of my favorites to the project.  daryl k has been a downtown icon in new york since the 90s her main collection, along with her diffusion line kerrigan are now here.  

 

the wrap coat is made of 100% alpaca.  

noir friday.

to gear up for our big black friday blowout party on the 28th we decided to do a little film noir photo shoot.  (get it?  black?  noir?  anyways...)

shot by achilles co-owner shaka ramsay.

all clothing and accessories available at the achilles project with the exception of casey's shoes and jakub's hat.

be sure to click on images for the full sized version.