Draper James

The flagship store of Reese Witherspoon’s Southern-style clothing and lifestyle label, named for her grandparents Dorothea Draper and William James Witherspoon. The Nashville-raised actress won the 2006 Best Actress Oscar for Walk the Line.

Designer Mark D. Sikes and architect Benjamin Sohr dressed the shop as a modern Southern house: a checkout counter styled as a kitchen island, decanters of sweet tea, and a mudroom in the back.

The brand painted the shop’s side wall in its signature blue-and-white stripes, and shoppers turned it into a photo stop. By February 2016 the label’s own blog was rounding up customers’ wall shots.

The 12 South shop opened in October 2015 as the brand’s first physical store, about 5 months after Draper James launched online.

In September 2023 Witherspoon sold roughly 70% of the company to Consortium Brand Partners, the investment firm’s first acquisition. She stayed on as a partner and board member.

Witherspoon threw the opening party in October 2015, with Sheryl Crow and Faith Hill in the crowd. She welcomed shoppers to “the first ever Draper James store” on social media.

The wall sits across the alley from the “I Believe in Nashville” mural, which Adrien Saporiti painted in 2012. Both are fixtures on 12 South’s photo circuit.