About

Sheila Harper is a New York City based accessories designer.  She completed her design degree in the UK studying Printed Textiles at Winchester School of Art. Following her graduation, she moved across the Atlantic for a position in design in New York City and she's never looked back.

Travel has been a part of Sheila's life since the start. Born in the Philippines, Sheila spent her childhood years living in India and Pakistan, before settling with her family in England.  During her summer holidays, Sheila was given the opportunity to see Europe, and at 19, she devoted her gap year to serving with Operation Mobilization, a literacy non-profit organization in Southeast Asia. It was during this time that Sheila fell in love with exploration which fuels her inspiration and her designs to this day. For Sheila, her passion and her work are one in the same. And, inspiration can come come in all shapes and sizes, whether it's a new way of experiencing sunlight, a new pattern, expression, emotion, culture or even becoming enlightened to a new worldview uncommon to her own.

Sheila's creative journey has led her into textile design and jewelry, but after taking a risk, and exploring a leather techniques class, she rekindled her passion with her first love, leather.  Sheila's creative expression has always been inspired by detail and structure; by romantic and linear qualities in tandem. For her, it's fun to chase the surprise of detail made three-dimensional. The 'handbag' offers the perfect open canvas for all of these elements to converge as one.

In 2012, Sheila launched Harper Jairdan, an accessories line formed out of her love of beautifully crafted wear-ables. Harper Jairdan is a line that expresses an old world feel meets new modern; playing around with elements that have an established quality but giving them a new face. 

In addition to design, Sheila spends her free time volunteering for The Blind Project, a non-profit organization which provides economic opportunities to survivors of the sex trade in Southeast Asia. To find out more, check out www.theblindproject.org.