Draper James is a clothing line launched by actress

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...

, founded in 2015. A nod to Witherspoon’s Southern upbringing, the line aims to "emphasize itherspoon'ssouthern roots and personal style". The name is in honor of Witherspoon’s grandparents, Dorothea Draper and William James Witherspoon.

History

Draper James launched with products available in May 2015 under the supervision of former president of Burch Creative Capital, Andrea Hyde and an initial $7 million in seed investment. In October 2015, Draper James announced a $10 million round of investment funding from early-stage investment firm, Forerunner Ventures. In October 2015, Draper James launched its first brick and mortar store in Witherspoon’s hometown of Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The second store opened in Dallas, Texas in September 2016. The Dallas location was moved to a popup in Southlake, Texas in September 2019. In May 2017, the Lexington, Kentucky location opened at The Summit at Fritz Farm. In December 2017, a opened in Atlanta Georgia at the Shops Around Lenox in Buckhead. Draper James has been featured in ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'', ''Vanity Fair'', ''Oprah Magazine'', and ''Coveteur'', among others, and the signature "totes y'all" bag was seen in the Gilmore Girls Revival. In March 2017, Draper James was voted "Best Shop in Tennessee" by Southern Living. That same month, Draper James launched a partnership with beauty-subscription service Birchbox. In April 2017, Draper James partnered with sandal brand Jack Rogers (Footwear Retailer) to launch three different styles of the classic Jack Rogers sandal. Draper James and Net-a-Porter announced a partnership in May 2017. In September 2017, Taylor Rettig replaced Hyde as the company's CEO. Draper James hired Kathryn Sukey as the new head of design, whose first collection debuted in Spring of 2019. Sukey also designed the first in-house plus size collection for the brand. In February 2022, they dropped a new line in partnership with

Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Haw ...

Products

The line features a wide range of clothing, accessories and home decor designed to “embrace the beauty and style and excitement that embodies what is happening in the South today,” with prices geared more toward high-end shoppers. Products often feature slang common to the Southeast United States, such as a tote bag with the phrase “totes y’all” imprinted on the bag.

Controversy

In March 2016, Florida-based jeweler Jordann Weingartner sued Draper James for copyright and

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may ...

, due to the similarity between its trademark and

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

and Weingartner's design.

References

External links

* {{Reese Witherspoon Clothing brands of the United States Reese Witherspoon 2015 establishments in the United States