Ashley & Ryan Durkin / Our Story
Two histories meet in Boston, with a shared focus on one signature coat.
Meet the ClarendonA personal thread
Ashley and Ryan’s story brings together two ways of seeing clothes. Ashley brings the perspective of a career spent turning fashion ideas into garments. Ryan brings family roots in Lowell, Massachusetts, and a belief that Boston deserves a vibrant style community of its own.
Hudson & Common is where those perspectives meet. It takes its name from the Hudson in New York and Boston Common: New York polish, grounded in the ease of everyday life in Boston.
And it begins with something personal. Ryan’s favorite coat. The one he kept reaching for. Together, they’re bringing that feeling to the Clarendon, with Ashley’s eye for fit, fabric, and finish.
The eye behind every detail
Ashley Durkin, formerly Ashley Moore, knows the work behind a beautiful garment. Her career spans in-house roles at Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors and Elie Tahari, and Head of Product Development at Marchesa Notte.
She founded KAB in 2021, helping brands bring ideas into production through close collaboration with designers, suppliers and makers. Today, she brings that New York experience to a new chapter in Boston.
The ambition for Hudson & Common: one exceptional coat, considered in every detail.
Massachusetts / A history of making
The Commonwealth’s mill cities and workshops hold a history of skill, ambition and reinvention. For Ryan, whose family roots are in Lowell, that history feels personal.
Lowell
Lowell’s cotton mills helped shape America’s industrial era. The women who worked there earned wages, built friendships and organized against long hours and difficult conditions. Their skill and independence are part of the city’s story.
The women of Lowell’s mills (opens in a new tab)Lynn
Lynn’s shoemaking tradition grew into a major center of footwear manufacturing. It is another reminder that Massachusetts style has a history rooted in the hands and expertise of its makers.
Lynn’s manufacturing history (opens in a new tab)Fitchburg
Sidney Ansin opened Anwelt Shoe in 1936. His son Ron later owned the company, and his grandson Robert “Bob” Ansin transformed the former factory into Anwelt Heritage. A family story of making and reinvention.
The Anwelt story (PDF, opens in a new tab)This regional heritage inspires our point of view. Where and how the Clarendon will be made will be shared as production plans are finalized.
A shared vision for Boston
Hudson & Common and Mercer & Beacon share a vision for a Boston fashion community: bringing together people from New York City’s fashion industry who now live here, alongside Massachusetts designers, makers, manufacturers and technologists.
We want to build lasting connections between both cities through conversations, shared expertise and collaboration. The ambition is practical: develop more products here, connect with local manufacturing talent, and explore new ways to make things in Massachusetts.
Technology and AI belong in that conversation, too. From design and prototyping to production planning, we want to explore how new tools can support human creativity and craft—and help build the next era of fashion in America.
Ashley’s mentoring with The Lower Eastside Girls Club and advisory work in Design and Merchandising at Drexel University inform that spirit of sharing knowledge and supporting one another.
The community is in the making. Our two labels are the starting point: one signature coat at Hudson & Common and one signature dress at Mercer & Beacon. The larger ambition is to help more people build what comes next, together.
Ashley & Ryan / One shared belief
Mercer & Beacon is devoted to one signature dress. Hudson & Common is devoted to one signature coat. Each piece gets our complete attention.
Ashley & Ryan