Nantucket’s Newest Female-Founded Stores Attracting Locals and Tourists Alike
Two female-founded brands on this year's list that aren't just selling something — they're building something.
Putting together this summer's Nantucket list, the two shops that stood out most weren't the ones with the prettiest storefronts; they were the ones built by women who bet on their own vision. HART Jewelry and Dairy Boy get there in very different ways, but both are good examples of what women-led fashion looks like when it's not just about the clothes.
HART Jewelry
Tucked into 25B Washington Street, HART is a family business run entirely by women: founded by one sister, scaled by another. Founder Hart Hagerty is a seventh-generation Charlestonian who studied Chinese and sociology at Vanderbilt, then spent several years in Shanghai working in fashion journalism and trend forecasting before a stint in New York advertising.
Hart moved home to Charleston in 2016 and launched her namesake line, and a signature tassel earring became an early breakout hit. The brand grew from there into what it calls "soulful adornment," personalized charm jewelry meant to carry meaning, not just style.
The turning point came in 2020, when Hart's sister, Curry Hagerty Uflacker, joined as CEO, taking on sales, marketing, and operations while Hart stayed focused on design. Since then, HART has grown into a business valued at roughly $20 million, growing into more than 200 boutiques, resorts, and spas along the way, opening a flagship store of its own, and even landing a drop ship collaboration with The Gap.
The brand leans hard on identity over trend: its stated ethos is that "outer sparkle ignites inner spark," and it describes wanting to help women mark milestones and feel "empowered and stylish with each wear." The Nantucket shop is a seasonal outpost of what's fundamentally a hometown family story.
*We weren't able to connect directly with the HART team for this feature, so this section draws on their own public storytelling and prior interviews, including their [Nantucket Chamber of Commerce listing](https://business.nantucketchamber.org/members/member/hart-8215), a [Charleston Day School alumni profile of Curry Hagerty Uflacker](https://www.charlestondayschool.org/alumni-spotlight-curry-hagerty-uflacker-97/), an [interview with Hart Hagerty on Pamela Munson's blog](https://pamelamunson.com/blogs/basket-weave/interview-with-hart-hagerty-founder-of-hart-jewelry), and [Tendency's report on the brand's growth to $20 million](https://tendency.ltd/sister-duo-transforms-hart-jewelry-to-a-20m-brand-through-collaboration/).*
Dairy Boy
If HART's story is about sisterhood, Dairy Boy's is about a solo founder who turned herself into a brand, and now has people lining up around the block on Federal Street.
Founder and CEO Paige Lorenze was known first as an online influencer, with more than a million followers, before she decided to build something of her own rather than stay the face of other people's brands. She started Dairy Boy in 2021 as a small, effortless-chic, outdoorsy label, more passion project than business at first, and it kept growing from there: an athletic line called DB Sport, a permanent collection called "Evergreen," and pop-ups that pulled lines out the door well before the Nantucket store existed.
"I think you're so rewarded when you own a brand, when you just lean into who you are as an individual, because no one can replicate that," said Lorenze. That is really the whole engine of the brand. It works because it's her.
The Nantucket flagship opened in May 2026, and the location meant something personal: Lorenze's grandparents had a house on the island, and she spent summers there growing up, an experience she's said shaped how she thinks about summer, home, and tradition. That shows up directly in the space itself.
Designed with Trove Design Studio, her space leans into that memory on purpose: weathered cedar shingles, mudrooms, faded upholstery, tennis rackets by the door, built to feel less like a store and more like a home lived in for generations. It's drawn lines down the sidewalk since it opened, something Nantucket retail hasn't quite seen before.
Lorenze is proof you don't need a big company behind you to build something people love. "I always bet on myself because I trust myself," she's said of the instinct behind it all, and she turned that instinct into a real business, with real stores and sold-out drops shaping how Nantucket dresses this summer.
*This section draws on Lorenze's own published interviews with [ELLE Decor](https://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/a71413153/paige-lorenze-dairy-boy-nantucket-flagship/), [PEOPLE](https://people.com/paige-lorenze-reveals-biggest-lesson-dairy-boy-has-taught-her-exclusive-11862799), and [Glamour](https://www.glamour.com/story/paige-lorenze-always-bets-on-herself), rather than a direct conversation for Palm Chic.*
Why these two
One built her brand alongside a sister, splitting the business along the lines of their two strengths. The other built hers entirely alone, on instinct, with no business plan and no outside funding. Different paths, same throughline: female founders building something rooted in place and story rather than pure trend-chasing: exactly the kind of fashion this list wants to spotlight this summer.