For Harris Tapper co-founders Sarah Gould Harris and Lauren Tapper, the secret to success is taking out the guesswork.
You can tell a lot about people from the spaces they work in.
Take Auckland womenswear brand Harris Tapper and its Auckland workroom. First impressions are of effortless elegance.
“We love it here, but we do need a bigger space,” co-founder Sarah Harris Gould says, while passing racks hanging with the refined tailoring that has become a Harris Tapper trademark.
At the other end of the open-plan industrial-style office, her business partner, Lauren Tapper, emerges, navigating a maze of boxes that almost obscure a huddle of minimalist white desks and design pinboards that line the studio perimeter.
Side by side, Lauren and Sarah embody the mutualism that’s been at the heart of their eponymous brand since its 2017 inception - a study of equilibrium between the “ascetic and voluptuous”.
Sarah wears their black satin Balmoral parka, cut strikingly in a dramatic A-line silhouette with a high funnel neck and oversized patch pockets. Next to her, Lauren’s in the more subdued Orwell polo, a plum-toned relaxed long-sleeve, cut expertly to highlight the subtle beauty of a pointed collar, three-button placket, and dropped shoulders.
Lauren and Sarah met as colleagues, working on the New Zealand launch of London brand Topshop. They credit a foundational understanding of how each other operates professionally to their successful, if contrasting, corporate coupling.
“Everything we do is in service of the business and that’s always our first priority,” says Sarah. “We came into this with a professional foundation, which means decisions are made objectively, with the brand’s best interests in mind.”
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Advertise with NZME.Operationally too, there’s a dichotomy. This duo is not a twinset, instead two distinct silhouettes complementing and grounding the other. That’s by design; everything they do is. Sarah leans towards the commercial, leading the business - directing, planning and strategising, which she says allows them “to remain nimble whilst growing”. Lauren sets the tone creatively, designing the collections, refining the finishes and honing brand language.
The delineation works because they’re steadfastly aligned on the end goal: “We want to create the Harris Tapper world. To become a household name, globally.”
They’re bounding towards it. The label has doubled its revenue annually and in the past 12 months, seen a 200% lift in online sales. Impressive for a seven-year-old luxury-focused brand that doesn’t operate stores of its own and was in relative infancy when the pandemic upturned the fashion industry.
Harris Tapper’s modern outfitting approach - providing quality workwear that works all day and into the night - is anchored by a global perspective and commercial acuity that has stood the test of time for others in the local fashion landscape.
Like the people behind the brand, Harris Tapper garments convey an assured and composed authority. Harris Tapper’s origins are in shirting, and from the outset, time and resourcing were invested into relationships with patternmakers and fabric suppliers to perfect their fit.
That continues today - with an admittedly wider scope.
Presenting luxury through a New Zealand lens means their garments are multifaceted and often subversive. Revered for a focus on refined but utilitarian details but imbued with richly storied personal details - like a delicate yet sturdily-constructed blouse modelled on go-tos from the wardrobes of working women they observed growing up. Initial designs are pinned to a mannequin Lauren has used since she was a student.
Their designs work on many levels, because their clients do.
“It’s less about a single person and more about a sensibility; someone who leads a multifaceted life, is discerning in their taste and has their own eye. They value design, quality and ease. That appreciation unites our customers.”
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While unashamed about global aspirations, a deeply felt connection with their clientele ensures their hunger for growth won’t supersede quality . Increasingly, data insights inform many decisions, but nothing is done solely for, or by, the numbers. They know growth, if uncontrolled, is dangerous. They value intentionality.
Without speaking to specifics, Lauren and Sarah reference a recent period of conscious recalibration - refocusing on what they want to deliver and who they were designing for. They started turning down opportunities to dress celebrities or be stocked in new foreign markets that didn’t feel like that perfect fit, even if they’d be fiscally fruitful.
The homing exercise worked, almost instantly, shown in an upswing in sales.
That’s not to say they’re closed off to opportunities when they present themselves organically. In July, the pair went on a scouting trip to New York, after noticing an outsized uptick in regional sales. They spent the trip canvasing daily life in the city, observing the surroundings and watching how New Yorkers live, work and play, because the places clothes are worn is just as telling as the places they’re made in.
They picked up on New York’s precision and pace - two Harris Tapper strengths. Crucial ones too, because if the Harris Tapper customer is united in tasteful discernment, they’re divided by practical requirements.
“The main differences between regions come down to climate and how each piece is worn in different environments,” Lauren says.
“But also way of life in these regions - Sydney and New Zealand are naturally a lot more casual than New York, for example, but the intention is these pieces serve the wearer through many different needs, and make it easy for her to get dressed no matter the occasion or location.”
Sonja Batt, co-owner of Scotties Boutique, has stocked the brand since its early days, impressed by Harris Tapper’s “strong sense of vision and ambition”. She says their following has “grown significantly in recent years” and over time, the label has refined its style, improved quality, becoming more minimal in approach.
“The brand has pared down its designs, focusing on core styles and essentials... Customers have responded positively to their classic pieces.”
Classic and pared back could also describe Harris Tapper’s debut at New Zealand Fashion Week Kahuria. On Tuesday night, they held a close-knit presentation at Blue in Ponsonby that channelled the intimacy of a 1960s couture salon - a fitting reference given those shows also fostered direct designer-customer connections. Styled by Isabella Mamas of Vogue Australia, they wanted the show to reflect the brand’s ethos: clothes designed not for spectacle, but for the woman herself.
“This Fashion Week debut isn’t about spectacle or scale - it’s a statement of identity, refinement, and maturity.”
In the room at Kahuria and beyond, fashion’s eyes are on Harris Tapper, the brand that loves to watch the world.
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