We sat down to chat with the incredible New Zealand Fashion brand and Co-Founder, Stacey McIntosh to chat all things content, inspiration and digital presence.
Who is Harrie and Sam?
Harrie and Sam is an 100% online made to order clothing store where customers purchase items from our website during a fortnightly pre-sale period, and the clothes are then made to size and shipped to the customer’s door within two and a half weeks. What started as a side hustle in 2017, Harrie and Sam was named after co-founders’ pet dogs (I still kinda cringe and laugh, Harrie is more human than dog). H&S is now a fully-fledged business – which is now successful enough that I was able to quit my day job as an account manager in 2019 to focus on further growing the venture. The genesis of Harrie and Sam was a desire to create sustainable, but affordable, basics that women could wear over and over. Clothing made and designed in NZ. We felt there was a place in the clothing market for well-made, affordable basics, so we started the range with styles we felt comfortable wearing, and after they started selling, it was like we saw the clothing was resonating with others. After a year in business I became the sole owner and have learnt so much about the design, production process as well as what our customers want. The future is exciting. As a team we want to keep doing what we have been, making gals feel great in the process.
Who inspires you?
As cliché as it sounds. Loads of people. Mostly people who have skills that I admire & are prepared to share them around to help others. People who like to teach others their strengths and things that come naturally to them. In this industry being “untrained” I have had the pleasure in learning from a lot of different people. It’s really inspiring watching and listening to what people have learnt along the way through years of working hard. This ranges from fabric knowledge, pattern knowledge, making, cutting, tech. The list goes on. I have a belief, you cant do it all so why not be honoured by the presence of others skills and see what you can gain by having them help teach you. Pretty much inspired by anyone who is prepared to work hard, believe in what they do and someone who is passionate about what they do each day. It’s hard to find that level of care in something sometimes so seeing someone pursuing ‘the thing they love” is great.