South Congress was built on independent, one-of-a-kind shops. And, despite recent changes and corporate transplants, one local brand is hoping to sustain the small business energy in the shopping area.
After running a successful pop-up shop on South Congress earlier this year, ethical clothing brand HarperSage has once again opened its doors for a longer pop-up starting on June 20. The store is located at 1714 South Congress Ave., next to the novelty shop Monkey See Monkey Do, and will run through December 31, Culture Map reported.
HarperSage designs and sells women’s clothing that focuses on seasonless staple pieces, including dresses, jumpsuits, and shirt jackets (a.k.a. shackets). These casual pieces are not quite androgynous, but often take cues from menswear and unisex trends. The store also carries goods from local makers like Howdy Ceramics and Ferro and Fawn and utilizes the talents of Austin artists, including illustrators Wild Vine Creative and Emily Eisenhart.
Founded by Meghan Herman in Brooklyn in 2019, HarperSage started out as an e-commerce brand and continued to be online-only throughout pandemic shutdowns. When Herman moved the business to Austin in 2021, she heard from customers that they wanted to touch and try on the products in person, so she started experimenting with small pop-ups around town.
She eventually began partnering with retail stores such as Neighborhood Goods to carry HarperSage products. However, when the department store suddenly shuttered in January of this year, Herman wanted to make up for lost business by testing out having her own retail space. She contacted the family-owned property group for the 1700 block of South Congress, and by February, she opened the doors to the store’s first temporary storefront, which ran through April.
“It was really nice to get out and connect with the community and instantly see how much people resonated with the clothing in person,” says Herman.
HarperSage is inspired by Herman’s own style persona. After playing D1 soccer at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and later starting a career in the fashion industry in New York City, she found herself working for “ultra-femme” brands like Anthropologie but designing pieces that were deemed too “masculine.”
Instead of leaning into one style over the other, HarperSage embraces this duality and celebrates the modern-day “multi-faceted women.” From flowy dresses to utilitarian jumpsuits, each piece falls under one of the brand’s signature personas: the soft and romantic “Harper” or the strong and adventurous “Sage.”
The brand is also committed to ethical and sustainable manufacturing. Herman designs everything herself and works with a women-owned factory in Delhi, India, to produce the clothing. While visiting the region a few times a year, she sources natural, high-quality deadstock fabric (leftover from other designers) and conceptualizes the designs based on the fabric that’s available.
The use of deadstock fabric also means that the brand only produces clothing in small batches. Once a style is made, it’s considered unique and not likely to be stocked again — which can be an enticing selling point for shoppers looking for a one-of-a-kind piece.
Herman hopes to have a permanent storefront on South Congress someday. But for now, she’s excited to represent small businesses on one of the city’s most treasured streets.
“There’s a little fire inside of me to be like, ‘Let’s represent and keep supporting small businesses here,’” she says. “Not only for myself, but I’m trying to bring Austin makers along for the ride.”