Fairfax & Favor targets US expansion despite tariffs

Fashion Network

22-04-2025

British brand Fairfax & Favor is continuing its focus on US expansion, despite the current tariff situation that could impact trade between the UK and US for the foreseeable future.
The company has seen a strong period or 'organic' growth in America, co-founder Marcus Fairfax Fountaine told The Times. He added that 'the opportunity to expand there massively outweighs the challenges'.
The decade-old 'rural vogue' label began life as a niche equestrian-inspired footwear brand, but now also includes a full line-up of outerwear for woman and men, plus bags and other accessories.
The company is targeting a major jump in US revenue to 20% of its total sales within three years, up from 10% at present and 3% just two years ago. But the UK remains its core market — apart from those US sales, its sales from the rest of the world currently make up only around 1% of its total.
The firm's accounts for the year to March 2024, filed at Companies House, show turnover of £36 million, up by only £1 million year on year but having seen 50% US growth. Pre-tax profits dipped from £4 million to £2.5 million as a result of store opening and warehouse investment. It has nine stores in market towns across the UK, as well as one in the US.
Fairfax Fountaine told the newspaper that American shoppers are drawn to the 'Britishness' of the brand 'and the fact Zara Tindall is a customer. She's the kind of person our customers tend to like'. Tindall, a British equestrian Olympian, is the daughter of Princess Anne and became an ambassador for the label last month.
Like other niche rural brands, the company has focused on reaching customers via outdoor events and the co-founder told The Times that it will double its presence at such events across the US (including the Kentucky horse trials). And it's looking at opening more stores there following its debut location at the Tryon International Equestrian Centre in North Carolina that opened its doors in 2023.
Fairfax & Favor may sound like the kind of name anyone searching for a British-country-heritage-meets-the-US type of moniker might come up with. But in fact, it simply reflects the founders' names. It's clearly part of Fairfax Fountaine's name and he founded the brand with his childhood friend Felix Favor Parker in 2013.
Manufactured in the UK, Portugal and Spain, it has become a regular feature at events such as the Cheltenham Festival and is also a celebrity favourite.