Twenty-five years ago, Cox & Cox began with a handful of Peepal leaves, two creative women and a catalogue created around family life. Today, we’re celebrating the story of where it all began – and the many chapters that have followed.
Where it all began
“We created our first catalogue with our babies on our hips,” says Cox & Cox co-founder Lizzie Thornton-Allan.
In the late 1990s, Fiona Cox was a photo stylist who had appeared on the BBC interiors programme Home Front. When she created a wall covered with Peepal leaves for one styling segment, the BBC was inundated with requests from viewers wanting to know where they could buy them. Fiona quickly set up an order line using her husband’s mobile number, while her parents’ hallway in Bath became her stockroom.
Around the same time, Lizzie, a music video producer, had left London to raise her family in the Oxfordshire countryside. She and Fiona were introduced by friends and soon began meeting for lunches in Oxford, sharing a desire for a creative outlet – and a feeling that something was missing from life outside London.
Inspired by one of their favourite Notting Hill shops, The Cross, they dreamed of creating a catalogue filled with beautiful, affordable things for the home and simple pleasures for everyday life.
The first Cox & Cox catalogue was created from their own homes, with their children, dogs and chickens featuring alongside the products. Nostalgic but with a modern edge, it was unlike anything else around at the time. Fiona styled the shoots, Lizzie produced the photography and wrote the copy, and everything was carefully fitted around school runs and family life.
“In the early days we never paid for a location or models!” says Lizzie.
The pair instinctively chose things they loved themselves – beautiful, useful and often difficult to find elsewhere. Customers eagerly awaited each catalogue, and heartfelt notes returned with their orders gave the fledgling business the encouragement to keep growing.
From a spare bedroom, to a garden shed, to a head office in Frome, Cox & Cox steadily evolved. What began as one catalogue a year became separate spring, summer and Christmas editions, before the business moved online and began to grow rapidly.
At its heart, though, the original idea remained: to bring beautiful things into everyday life and create homes filled with personality, warmth and joy.
Fiona remained the creative force behind Cox & Cox until her death in 2013. Reflecting on their partnership, Lizzie recalls: “Cox & Cox was the joy of our lives. I miss it a lot.”
Twenty-five years on, that spirit of creativity, individuality and beautifully considered homes remains at the heart of Cox & Cox.
Chapter 25
To mark this milestone anniversary, we are celebrating with the launch of Chapter 25 – a special capsule collection inspired by one of the very first products we ever sold.
At its heart is the delicate, skeletal Peepal leaf, whose distinctive silhouette first captured the public imagination in the late 1990s. Twenty-five years on, those original leaves have come full circle, inspiring a new collection created by our in-house creative team.
A soft sage green palette - chosen because it goes with almost everything - flows throughout, bringing together embroidered napkins, wall art and hand-blocked textiles alongside ruffle-edge cushions, a quilted tote, make-up bags, a sleep mask and lampshades. Our much-loved Weathered Oak Stool has also been reimagined in sage green as a special anniversary edition.
Alongside the collection, the team has created a commemorative book, The Curated Home, which celebrates 25 years of Cox & Cox – looking look back at the people, places and pieces that have shaped our story.
It feels like the perfect way to mark 25 years: looking back to where we began, while creating something entirely new for the next chapter.
25 years of beautiful homes
While so much has changed since those early days – from a garden shed and only printed catalogues to the homes, products and ways of shopping we know today – the original idea has remained remarkably constant - the belief that the things we choose for our homes should bring us joy, feel personal and be made to last.
For 25 years, Cox & Cox has been about finding those special pieces: things that catch your eye, make a room feel more like you and become part of the story of home. Chapter 25 sees a celebration of that enduring spirit, acknowledging where it all began and with the Cox & Cox Class of '26 looking forward with the same passion to what comes next.