We are James and Lauren and we are the founders of The Country Duck Co clothing. Late in 2022 after much thought we decided that now was the perfect time to pursue our dream of creating our very own country clothing brand. Having been together a couple of years we are soon to be a married couple. This is a very exciting step for us both but also as a business as we will be trading from our first home together situated on the beautiful Dartmoor in the heart of Devon.

We have both lived and grown up nearby in Devon with James spending lots of his time growing up with his family at home on the farm and with that it taught him lots of life lessons that he puts into practise today. Since a very young age, James has also been an avid supporter of football and has played locally right up to this day. Lauren finds herself taking lots of photographs of many different things such as: families, weddings, wildlife and now TCDC. She also has a passion for a long countryside walk whilst taking in the phenomenal local scenery and fabulous fresh air.

Having both grown up in the countryside we felt that the business had to be orientated around the great Devonshire landscape and all that it offers. In the middle of summer 2022 we decided that we would rear some lovely little Muscovy ducklings to go alongside our laying hens and provide us with endless amounts of entertainment and eggs.

The name ‘The Country Duck Co’ was inspired by the way we both live our lives; whilst James is a hard working builder, he often finds himself at home on the farm or in the garden surrounded with nature. He has always had a burning aspiration to start his own business and felt that the country style clothing category was missing something special.

Here is where Lauren comes into the equation; having got engaged to each other in the Spring of 2022 we felt that we needed that something extra in our lives to work towards and bring a different dimension of challenge into our lives. Together we spend a lot of time walking and out and about exploring Devon as well as also attending our local Church every Sunday where we talk through our faith and spend time with friends and family. Our faith is the core to our relationship in which we feel we can talk openly to each other and help and support each other as much as we can.

Lauren is also a budding photographer who equally runs her own ‘Blooming B Photography’ business meaning that she can capture the perfect image of every occasion. Additionally, she has a keen eye for creating designs that we both have crazy ideas about. She designs them specifically for us and each piece of clothing which makes it easier for us to bring them to life and for customers to enjoy.

Why shop at our country store?

It’s self-evident that country clothing is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to get suited and booted. Our full range of Country Duck Co items is built to last with our whole range being named after a different breed of duck. Country styles very rarely change meaning that every piece of attire you purchase from us won’t age and you will be able to wear in years to come whilst still looking fashionable and feeling extremely comfortable. At the heart of our brand are technical products, built for every purpose and stretch of life. Our brand tries to encourage and promote the use of re-wearing items to help customers move away from throwing clothes into landfill at a time when over 300,000 tonnes of clothing is ending up in landfill each year. The gentleness in country life means that even when looking a little battered and bruised our clothing still stands out and is part of the country style.

Our garments should be lived in, not just worn.

As stated above, all logos and designs are prepared and bought to life via the two of us combining together. As and when we feel the time is right we put a brainstorm together to establish new ideas and designs for new items and products. We then use Lauren’s expertise to make the designs to then send to our supplier. Our supplier, something we spent a lot of time looking into! From the very beginning we felt that selecting the correct supplier was a critical part of our business structure.

We tried and tested many companies, some local and some further afield. After lots of contemplation and ideas sent back and forth we selected a supplier that equally is relatively new to the industry. We decided to choose our supplier due to the fact of the quality garments they supply to us but also because of their exquisite embroidery skills.

In the long term we are aiming to be able to do everything in house but currently with us both working full time elsewhere whilst also planning our wedding and buying our first home we unfortunately haven’t got the time or resources to be able to do that currently. Having ordered lots of products to trial we were super impressed with how quick they were able to get our garments sent out to us.

At the moment we have limited stock so most orders are made specifically to that order so therefore it does make your orders slightly slower getting to you but we do our best to get them sent out as soon as possible. Every ordered placed with us is sent with Royal Mail 1st Classed Signed for ensuring they get to you the best way! On top of that we send every order in a biodegradable postage bag to try and do our bit to help save the planet. Each bag can be placed into a compost bin where worms will work their magic and break them down to nothing.

We look forward to sending attire your way!

James & Lauren

www.thecountryduckco.com