Tennessee’s lifestyle brand Volunteer Traditions will launch a women’s line called Harper Knit on April 4th,2016. Early fans include Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), and Emily Kinney (The Walking Dead).
Each item will pair well with the existing Volunteer Traditions line and its signature tristar look, which has previously been a favorite of everyone from Reese Witherspoon (as seen in PEOPLE, US Weekly), Eric Berry (Kansas City Chiefs) and Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos). And Franklin High Senior Andrew Kochamba was seen wearing a Volunteer Traditions hat on the Jimmy Fallon show during his Senior Shadow day.
The line came together due to the demand for the existing Volunteer Traditions products, notorious for their tristar branding.
Named after CEO Mason Jones’ mom, Marilyn Harper Jones, the brand is a round-about-way of honoring his mom for being his number one fan even though he quit his day job as a lawyer to begin setting Volunteer Traditions caps, belts and t-shirts.
We spoke to CEO, Mason Jones, to ask why they chose to launch a women’s line.
“We pride ourselves on being in tune with what our customers want, so adding the women’s activewear seemed like a natural progression as it’s what our female customers are wearing daily, whether going to class, hitting the gym after work, or around town with the family on the weekend. As the brand has come together completely, it’s been great to see the incredible feedback from our customers in saying “This is amazing!”
Creative Director, Kimber Cline, had this to say about the design process for Harper Knit.
“It started out with figuring out what the women and I in the office were looking for in athletic wear, which was simple classic designs that could be mixed and matched with everything. We made sure the tanks were a good mix of function and style, the leggings were the most comfortable fabric we could find and the shorts were flattering. It was a lot of fun designing something completely different from what we are doing at Volunteer Traditions, yet still getting the same great response from our customers.”
The Southern-niche brand kicked-off with a non-traditional start in 2006 when CEO/Owner Mason Jones and his friend, Brock Bosson, were sitting in a course at the University of Tennessee College of Law dreaming of a Tennessee-centric product that would rival the state pride of a classmate’s South Carolina flag belt. From that, the Tennessee Flag Belt – a Southern Living gift guide favorite – was born, and the two entrepreneurs sold the product to friends, classmates and alumni in the area.
Harper Knit’s product line includes headbands, tanks, tees, leggings and shorts. Prices for the line range from $12.50 for a headband, $39.99 for a tank to $72 for leggings. To learn more about Harper Knit which will launch on April 4th or Volunteer Traditions,visit their website.
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