Small business: Harper James, inclusive designs for ‘hardworking women’

In just 12 months, Harper James founder Lisa Perese-Cullen has led the underwear brand from its humble Kiwi roots to a global social media following.

She says her designs are inspired by the hardworking women
in her own family who motivate her to elevate inclusivity and comfort for other women, a message that has resonated with wāhine in Aotearoa and around the world.

What is Harper James?

Harper James is an underwear company and we design pieces for everyday wear. They’re 100 per cent wireless and designed to support women through their everyday lives, which tend to be quite hectic and quite busy.

One of the things we strive to do is make our size range more inclusive. When we first started, we went from small to 2XL. Now, we’re proud to go to 4XL and we’re extending from XS to 5XL.

How important is it for Harper James to be inclusive?

For me, it’s really important. It comes down to the women in my family and around me. I come from a big Samoan family – some are small and some are big.

I always wanted to make a brand that supported all of us – something that fits my mum, my sisters, my aunties. I’m proud to be able to give that to other women.

When did you start the company?

It took me about two years of planning, then we’ve officially been launched for 12 months this month. It was so busy, I completely forgot that milestone had gone by.

The first year has been really great. The first year was more about establishing my foundations and learning who my customers are, and also testing and refining products as well. It’s been really nice to get such good feedback on the product itself.

What made you start Harper James?

It was something I had been thinking about for quite a long time.

It started after I had my kids and I was breastfeeding, I was so used to wearing maternity bras and sports bras that when I went back to wired bras, they were just really uncomfortable for me. I had tried a whole bunch of wireless bras and they didn’t always fit properly.

And then I found a lot of my friends did the same thing. A lot of bustier women, I guess, tend to run around in sports bras just to feel comfortable throughout the day, so I started sketching up ideas of what it would look like to come out with my own line.

Back in 2022, everything came into alignment and I thought that I would just give it a go.

What’s your biggest challenge doing business?

Probably balancing it all because at the moment, I do it all by myself. I do the marketing, I do the social media, the manufacturing and logistics.

Hopefully, in the future, I’ll be able to bring some people on to help me out with that.

What is your background?

Me and my husband had actually run small businesses in the past, but nothing in the fashion design realm. Prior to that, I was a stay-at-home mum for two years, which is why I had the time to develop the idea. Before that, I worked in the corporate world for about eight to 10 years.

I’ve been working since I was 16 and I’ve had so many different jobs – warehousing, retail, customer service -and strangely enough, I think all of those jobs have really given me the skills to actually be in business without actually realising it.

What impact has social media had on your business?

It’s quite funny. I started doing a personal TikTok because I knew eventually I’d have to get on it business-wise as well. So I thought, I’ll jump on TikTok, test the waters and figure out how to use the app. And from there, my personal TikTok is the one that has taken off.

I would say social media has actually become quite a core value in the business model because it’s the best way I’ve found that I can directly talk to my customers, and actually understand who our customers are.

Who are your customers?

The way I tend to think about my audience is that I want it to be a reflection of the women in my life. I’ve been raised by women who are very hardworking, all different body shapes and sizes as well. So my audience has always been the hardworking woman, really.

It’s always been interesting as well because the definition of that is all sorts. You’ve got corporate women, you’ve got stay-at-home mums. I love hearing stories from our customers. They let me know what their jobs are.

I had one woman who’s a farmer, another who’s a police officer. So hearing all of those stories is probably the best bit.

How much has your customer base grown in the last year?

It’s grown a lot actually. We use a lot of social media, a lot of TikTok and Instagram which has grown to about 16,000 people in 12 months. But it’s more so growing a community. It’s really nice when people reach out and tell us how much they enjoy the products and how they fit into their lifestyle.

I do know that when I design products, I design them to last. I don’t see us as being a fast-fashion brand.

I want to be able to create a product that is quality, that people can buy one or two of and have it last them for a long time, as opposed to selling things fast and in high volume.

Where do you design and manufacture your garments?

All the designs are done in New Zealand, and the manufacturing is done offshore in China.

All the designs have literally been sketched and sampled by myself. That took a couple of years to get right and it was a massive learning curve for me because I don’t have a history in design or fashion. But I knew what I liked and what I wanted.

What steps did you take to start the business?

It was lots of Googling, lots of figuring out how manufacturing works, lots of talking to people who are in the industry. It was basically just me going out and researching as much as possible.

Sampling was a big hurdle that I had to figure out because I think we went through almost a dozen samples at the very beginning.

What are your most popular products?

Our wireless bras are our biggest sellers. Our most popular one is called a plunge bra – it’s a V-neck bra and we go all the way up to a 4XL so it’s definitely one of our most popular styles.

What do you want to achieve through the business?

My main goal is to be able to grow it as much as possible over the next 10 to 20 years. I see it being a long-term thing for myself because I enjoy it.

I love bringing all the products to life so the next goal, probably for the next 12 months, is to get in stores in Australia and in New Zealand.

At the moment we’re solely available online but we’ll probably look at getting in stores within New Zealand this year and doing a few pop-up stores around Auckland as well.

What advice do you have for other wāhine looking to start a business?

I’ve always said just start it. Start it, commit to it, execute it.

Like anything, there’s always going to be mistakes and learning curves along the way but there’s only so much you can learn off Google and from research and reading. You learn a lot more and a lot faster if you actually just do it and commit to it.

Alka Prasad is an Auckland-based business reporter covering small business and retail.