Southern Roots, Modern Growth: 8 Takeaways from Our Open Call with Draper James
This week we opened our Tuesday membership call to everyone and welcomed Jeannie Yoo, CEO of Draper James, and Lauren Frohlinger, SVP of Merchandising, Planning & Sales. Reese Witherspoon founded Draper James in 2015 as a tribute to her grandparents, Dorothea Draper and William James Witherspoon. Ten years later, the brand still runs on Southern femininity, family, community and hospitality.
Jeannie and Lauren spoke candidly about growing a brand with a strong sense of heritage and place without losing what made customers connect with it in the first place. Here are the takeaways we’re still thinking about.
1. Ask one question before every new project
Jeannie runs every idea through the same test:
“Would anybody miss it if we didn’t do it? And if the answer is no, then again, we shouldn’t spend resources and allocate any capital towards that project.”
It’s a simple filter for protecting brand equity, and one any founder can borrow this week.
2. Know what your customer doesn’t come to you for
Early in their tenure, the team tested a more neutral, urban collection. It underperformed. As Lauren put it, “she doesn’t want something so basic.” The fix was solid textured fabrics, which gave the customer her neutrals with “something a little extra that made her feel a little more special.”
The brand’s codes stay put: stripes, gingham, florals, whimsy and color, refreshed each season with details like embroidered gingham and placement prints. The clothes are designed for ease, with pull-on shapes, smocked waists and fewer zippers, for brunches, lunches and hosting.
3. Test small, then grow what works
Pajamas went from about 5% of the business to almost 15%. The team releases four or five prints a season, at $58 to $78. A book stack print was last season’s first sellout, and the cowboy boot print is the current number one, with a restock coming in early December.
They kept building on what worked: Mommy and Me sets, pet bandanas to match family photos, and infant pajamas next to complete the size scale. In Nashville, groups of five or six often buy the same pajama in one visit.
Jeannie calls these proof points. During the brand’s Decade Tour, they popped up in ten cities where e-commerce was already strong. Success in Houston, their number one e-commerce market, became the case for a longer-term pop-up in The Woodlands.
4. Make the store a place to stay
The 3,000-square-foot flagship on 12 South in Nashville has the famous blue and white wall, Reese’s idea, so visitors leave with a photo as a souvenir. There’s sweet tea on weekends, seating areas made for lingering, and a cash wrap modeled on a kitchen counter, with stools.
“Our ethos of the store is you should be greeted like you’re being welcomed to someone’s home.”
Events keep the community coming back, from book signings with female authors to drives that served Nashville after the tornadoes.
5. Collaborate for the customer you already have
Draper James chooses partners that serve its current customer, not just new ones. A Tea Forté collaboration tied tea SKUs to the spring print collection, with another planned for 2027. A makeup collaboration focused on mature skin exceeded expectations. A multi-year Tretorn partnership now includes an in-store customization bar with beads, ribbons and laces.
Their criteria: customer alignment, brand reputation and reach, and a bonus if the partner is female-founded.
6. Balance wholesale and direct-to-consumer
Draper James sells through about 2,500 optical shops and Belk, which grew from one store to 60 doors for ready-to-wear. Kids is going from 25 to 100 Belk doors for Spring 2027.
Their advice is balance, not one or the other. Wholesale brings reach, faster scale and quick product feedback, while running your own stores is capital intensive “even for the largest companies.” To protect boutique accounts:
- Avoid promotional partners that undercut your pricing
- Be candid with every account about where else you’re sold
- Give boutiques exclusive styles and majors a different assortment
- Map store proximity and visit both accounts
- Watch for warning signs: late payments, net 60 or 90 terms, or relying on one account
They pointed to Dillard’s as a non-promotional partner, and several Southern C brands have landed in its incubator space, the Coterie.
7. Listen everywhere, then act on it
The store team tries on every new shipment across shapes and sizes. When Instagram comments flagged parking on 12 South, they added complimentary valet with purchase. When reviews called out the arm length on a dress, they reassessed the fit.
Each season, Lauren ranks every style from best to worst seller by silhouette and category. When $38 earrings sold through, that pointed to room to grow at that price.
“This business is a lot about how do we marry art and the science, but there is data and I always try to use it as a starting point.”
8. Write your website for people
Clear navigation, accurate filters and human product descriptions matter. Describe how a piece is worn, its pockets, materials and occasions, not just how it looks. Two more notes: scarcity marketing only works if another part of the business makes up the missed sales, and for Draper James, email and paid media outperform social commerce.
Watch the full conversation
Missed the call? Watch the full recording below. Conversations like this happen every Tuesday at 11 inside TSC membership, and every call is saved to our Video Vault.
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