Eileen Fisher opens new concept store in L.A.
Eileen Fisher, the 30-year-old brand built on easy, understated knits and separates, is aiming to address a younger customer with a new boutique on a stretch of Robertson Boulevard peppered with paparazzi and trend-driven boutiques like Kitson and Curve.
The Fisher Project is both a retail space and a capsule collection that feels like Eileen Fisher but tweaked to suit a contemporary clothing shopper who previously may have not been familiar with the brand at all. To capture the attention of a younger market, the Fisher Project incorporates edgier materials, such as cobwebby knits and leather. Proportions are bold. And silhouettes are slimmer, in contrast to Eileen Fisher’s typically billowy shapes.
The collection shares the same insouciant nature as its sister label, but conveys a more modern sense of slouchy-yet-sexy ease that has been relevant on runways and in street style for quite a while.
“The Fisher Project shares and builds on the design values of Eileen Fisher by interpreting our love of simple shapes with bolder forms, proportion play with more exaggerated relationships and ease of fit with more of an edge,” says Rebecca Perrin, co-creative director at Eileen Fisher.
Items are priced comparably to the main Eileen Fisher line -- Fisher Project skinny jeans, for instance, are $178 and a silk jumpsuit is $298.
The Robertson store is the first Fisher Project location, and it’s stocked with merchandise that rolled out this summer. A more robust collection is set for fall, and stock will also include select pieces from the Covet Collection of jewelry by local designers such as Lulu and Takara. The 2,500-square-foot space also houses the 111 Collection, a line of one-of-a-kind Eileen Fisher items, and there is a section of the store dedicated to basics such as jeans and T-shirts.
It may have been the youthful and casual nature of the Fisher Project that inspired the brand to launch both the clothing line and the retail concept on the West Coast.
“We selected Robertson Boulevard because it provides the perfect creative environment to experiment with this new concept,” says Jim Gundell, co-chief executive officer of Eileen Fisher, pointing out that the West Coast is also a key market for the brand.
L.A.’s coastal vibe is carried out in the furniture and fixtures used throughout the store. Each reclaimed wood table, driftwood object and glass surface was created by a local designer to suit the light and airy environment.
The Fisher Project is considering its next location -- possibly in Brooklyn , N.Y. -- further solidifying Eileen Fisher’s foray into more youthful and contemporary clothing for the next generation.
Where: The Fisher Project, 113 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles
When: 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
More information: (424) 302-0467, thefisherproject.com
