Sarah Harris Gould and Lauren Tapper have always been visual people — it's part of what has made their fashion label Harris Tapper so successful here in Aotearoa, and why women all over the world are also cottoning on to their sophisticated clothing. What their fans may not realise is just how tactile their creative process is. "We often scan the fabric we want to use, then print it out within our drawings so we can see what the range is going to look like before it's produced," says Lauren, who drives the design.
What started in 2017 with a focus on high-quality, directional women's shirting has, in the space of less than four years, grown into a full collection aimed at ambitious, multi-faceted women like themselves.
"The whole ethos behind the brand is about championing women and their careers," adds Sarah, who leads the commercial side of the business. "Our customers can be found in CBD hubs around the world."
From day one, they've focused their efforts on establishing an online business, selling through 16 stockists, as well as direct to consumer, throughout New Zealand, Australia, London and the US. But perhaps their biggest coup to date has been a Harris Tapper pop-up that launched in prestigious London department store Harrods in August this year.
"There's been a big marketing push but I think also people are seeking out emerging brands," says Sarah. With so much of their business conducted online, plus their exciting inroad into the UK, Harris Tapper recognise there's now a more urgent need to maintain data integrity, particularly during global lockdowns. There's a lot at stake should it be compromised, from the intellectual property of their designs, to their financial information, to the safety of their employees.
"People have such integrated lives," she says. "They have laptops they take home and there's a lot of information people use on laptops nowadays, regarding your work and your personal life. They're then of course printing at home and in the office, and many are completely unaware that printers can be prone to malware attacks as well."
Thanks to Smart Cloud Resilience, HP+ printers automatically detect and fix issues so they don't slow the designers down. The 24/7 HP+ built-in security also keeps Harris Tapper two steps ahead by helping to prevent potential attacks and information from ending up in the wrong hands.
"The designs we're working on are almost a year in advance," says Lauren. "It's something you need to protect because product is the whole cornerstone of the business. So having confidentiality and protection around the collection is paramount."
Smart Cloud Resilience gives the pair the confidence to print from a number of devices, including their computers and phones.
Key to Harris Tapper's process is collecting an evolving archive of a diverse range of materials for inspiration and reference — everything from photography to street style and work by female artists they admire, including Agnes Martin and American sculptor Jeannine Marchand. The images are collated in Adobe Illustrator then printed out to pin to a big mood board.
"It's really important to step away from the screen and be able to stand back and look at something tangible," Lauren explains. "If you're just looking at a series of images on the screen you're not really getting a story."
The mood boards inspire their initial design sketches, which are then translated into technical drawings, which include vital information for each garment's construction. The flat CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings are created in Illustrator and InDesign before they're printed off, so the duo can see what the collection will look like before it goes to a pattern-maker. "It's really important to us to have a visual reference," says Lauren. "Otherwise we would get all the samples back and it would be chaos as they might not align to what we were thinking."
HP+ also provides a convenient dashboard from where they can collate their diverse range of imagery before printing. "If our mood board existed only on a screen, we wouldn't have a constant visual reference point to look at while we work across all facets of the business," says Sarah. "So that's where the importance of printing them out and having them visible all day comes in."
Once the samples have returned, the pair will then fine-tune the drawings. Having a cache of printed materials allows them to quickly reference each collection and how it's coming along, as well as being able to see it as a whole.
"The printer is so useful when it comes to that technical side," says Sarah. Printing also provides a vital link between the pair. Lauren will lead the drawings and print them out, which is where Sarah's commercial eye comes in. This surveying method came in handy during lockdown, whereby Lauren would leave print-outs on Sarah's doorstep, which they'd then Zoom about later. "To work together and collaborate we really needed those days where we'd print everything out," says Sarah.
In what has shaped up to be a busy year for the brand, their HP Instant Ink subscription provides ink to them when they require it, without the need to order, so they can cross one more thing off their already stacked to-do list. The entrepreneurial duo has just finished selling their range for the international spring/summer period, while simultaneously working toward the launch of their new collection, Resort and in a sampling process for the next autumn/winter range. They've also started sketching designs for the season beyond that, a process Sarah says is akin to wearing "four hats at once".
All orders are shipped from their Grey Lynn office. Other than the practical applications their printer affords them for packing slips, commercial invoices, courier stickers, and signed contracts, there are creative advantages, too. Utilising their computer and HP+ printer allows them to select colours from colour swatches, along with textures and patterns — stripes or jacquard for instance — which can be applied using software, a process that could take hours to do by hand, before being printed off for review. "It's a much faster and more efficient way of working," says Sarah.
Meanwhile, the HP+ app gives them the flexibility to print from anywhere. If they happen to take a snap of someone on the street, or they come across an image online that inspires them, they can print it out to add to review or add to their mood board once they're back in the office. Once travel is back on the agenda, it will also prove useful, allowing them to print things for team members while away.
Despite things taking off internationally, Sarah and Lauren say they are mindful of not expanding too quickly, so as not to disrupt the sustainable principles they've worked hard to instil in the brand. All of their suppliers are required to sign their code of conduct, based on global standards set by the Ethical Trading Initiative. They are also working toward using more recycled polyester, and traceable organic cotton and cashmere.
The brand always looks to work with other companies that align with their way of thinking, which made the integration of an HP+ printer into their business a no-brainer. For every page Harris Tapper prints, HP plants trees and protects forests, and ink cartridges can be easily recycled through the HP Instant Ink service.
"Collaboration is the way forward," says Lauren. "It's about working together to find the best practices for each company and to find ways you can both improve."
Harris Tapper's intention has always been to help career-minded women integrate their personal and professional lives.
"There's a nice symbiosis between our company and HP," Lauren adds, referring to the mindset of the multi-tasking working woman. "You can send something to print and be able to look at it when you get home."
To find out more about how HP+ can be used for your small business and at-home printing needs, visit hp.co.nz/plus