While attending Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., Alison Barnard O’Brien had an idea. An ingenious one, if you will.
She would bring retail to Boston’s historic North End, one of the colonial city’s first residential communities populated, primarily, by Italian immigrants. Over the decades, the district became known as Little Italy, with many businesses like butcheries and bakeries of the mom-and-pop variety.
O’Brien, a then-26-year-old homegrown business major who identified a market opportunity for bespoke denim services, saw a vacant storefront on Hanover Street and thought that this foodie neighborhood would be just the place for her boutique.
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Not everyone saw the vision.
“I remember my professor telling me at the time that the business plan looked good, but he didn’t know if I was a good buyer. That didn’t faze me at the time; what does that mean? I’m a good buyer,” O’Brien, Injeanius’ founder, owner and “chief denim officer,” told Rivet. “Now, 20 years later, I can see the distinction between shopping for yourself and being able to put together outfits.”
Injeanius has been Boston’s premier denim destination ever since. In 2007, O’Brien was awarded Boston Magazine’s Best-of-Boston award for best women’s jeans. The publication called out O’Brien’s “uncanny gift for knowing precisely which one will give us longer-looking legs and a perkier behind that lures us back time and time again.” Injeanius took home the Best of Boston award again in 2023 for shopping.
In the span of just a few years, O’Brien was named one of Inc. Magazine’s “30 Under 30,” voted as one of “Boston’s 25 Most Stylish” by the Boston Globe and christened “The Butt Whisperer” by the Boston Herald.
But the queen of jeans began outgrowing the 600-square-foot shop in the North End and tried on Newberry Street—the city’s “shopping mecca” at the time—for size. It wasn’t the best fit, geographically speaking. It was also 2020, and Injeanius rebranded to communicate “elevate the everyday.” At the same time, the once-industrial area known as the Seaport District was also undergoing a rebrand of sorts. The peninsula’s old textile factories and artist communities became luxury lofts and mixed-use buildings with green spaces.
Considering the parallels, O’Brien set out for a fresh start. She secured a pop-up spot at the Current—a retail pop-up village in the area—before settling in the summer of 2022 at the Superette, also in Seaport. The 1,100-square-foot storefront was the first female-owned, local business to open in the European-inspired shopping hub.
It’s also twice the size of her original outpost.“It’s been great for my business, it’s allowed me to have a new life and grow in a different way,” O’Brien said of the new space, noting that her previous shop needed renovations. Instead, she outfitted the flagship with a terrazzo-topped denim bar, a chandelier comprised of vine-like denim strips and blue arches dividing fitting rooms from the “style lounge.”
“It gave me the opportunity to have this one, really great store that people come to that’s beautiful but also comfortable and open,” she said. “Somewhere you feel like you can hang out.”
Injeanius even worked with a local candlemaker to develop a signature scent for the store. Named “Elevate,” the candle consists of lemon, basil, sea salt, lilac—all of “the things I wanted the interior to make you feel,” O’Brien said. “When you smell it, it’s uplifting but calming and energizing.”
More than a makeover, the move reinforced O’Brien’s reputation as the “Blue Jean Queen” but was also an opportunity to do more than denim. Taking advantage of the extra space, O’Brien outfitted the style lounge with a curved velvet sofa and a rolling rack of tops to pair with the denim du jour.
“When I was doing the research to open, I found out women buy two tops for every bottom,” she said. “So why would you have a store that’s exclusively bottoms when you need to have that turn of a top?”
Today, Injeanius carries a healthy mix of denim and everyday pieces through the 60-plus brands stocking the storefront. About half of the boutique’s sales are from jeans, while the other half comprises other garments and accessories.
“Women are loyal to fit, they are not loyal to a brand,” O’Brien said. “They think they like a brand, but as soon as that fit doesn’t work for them, bye.”
That said, brands like Re/Done, Paige and Mother Denim sit alongside designers like Bella Dahl, Brodie Cashmere and Bishop & Young.
“I feel like Citizens of Humanity has really changed their game,” O’Brien said, noting that Injeanius carried the Los Angeles premium label since day one. However, there was a lull where “the fits weren’t fitting,” so she stopped carrying the brand. “Now, I really love everything they’re doing, from all aspects of fashion to also, like, what they’re doing for the environment and regenerative agriculture, I think is so cool.”
Customers keep her guessing, too. “I never would have thought in a million years that the barrel would have lasted as long as it has,” O’Brien said. “People are coming in—even in Boston—wanting to try the barrel. So, we have variations; Agolde’s Luna Split, Pistola’s baby barrel sells well.”
Her Bostonian clients are beholden to one, particularly tight, style. “People walk in, and they go, ‘I guess I need to get rid of my skinny jeans.’ And I’m like, well you don’t have to get rid of them, you can have them if you enjoy wearing them. You do you,” O’Brien said. “But if you want to try something new, let’s try something new.”
This is where the journey begins. O’Brien pulls what she calls a “gateway” jean: a cropped boot cut that’s tight in the knee before kicking out. If you go from skinny to straight, it’s too confusing, she said. Once she gets skinny-stans to test the waters, they’re willing to try a tailored wide leg or an ankle-length straight leg.
O’Brien shares one such case: a husband watched his post-partum wife struggle to find flattering jeans before nearly crying tears of joy when the perfect pair emerged.
“His wife was so happy, and he was like, ‘Wow, who knew? Like, you’re not just selling clothes, you’re actually making people feel better.’ And I’m like, yes, this is why I’m in this,” O’Brien said. “It’s not to sling clothes, it’s to actually help people feel better about themselves.”
One challenge—which she agonizes over—is plus-size offerings. “I just want to be mindful of fit and quality,” O’Brien said. “There are some brands I’ve looked at that do offer a broader size range, but I don’t think the quality is as good as the ones that we’ve been able to carry.”
For every new denim label Injeanius carries, O’Brien does her homework, focused on pocket placement and material matrix. “I’m never going to buy a new brand without trying it on myself—that’s a recipe for disaster—so I’ll test a couple of styles and see how it goes,” she said. “We just started testing Le Jean, and it’s been doing really well; it’s soft and drapey and looks sophisticated. We’re going go a little deeper there for spring and give it a try.”
While O’Brien is still in the store a few times a week, she takes pride in having infused her team of 10 with her polite yet honest method to help women find the right fit.
“Like, I’m not gonna be mean to you,” O’Brien said. “But I am going tell you that we can do better, so let’s find something together.”
This story is published in Rivet’s winter issue. Click here to read more.
