Freddie Fox & Co Family Blog 2nd Birthday Special

Written by some of the FFnCo team.

Families come in all shapes and sizes, but our Freddie Fox and Co family is something different altogether. As a small community of brand reps for a fantastic homemade clothing company, we all share a passion for beautiful and bright unique clothing – but our connection is far more than just a similar interest. Each rep is there for one another through the good times and tough times. We are a non-judging support network through sleepless nights and terrible twos, we are cheering at the side-lines like a proud parent on sports day, we are holding a tissue at the end of a tough day and we are there for each other on a Friday night to raise a glass, laugh about the little tinkers adventures and say “well done mama, you’ve got this.” The Freddie Fox Family consists of mamas and their tribes from all over the country and, surprisingly enough, have mostly never met each other in person. But we know that there is a stack of advice and ears to listen only a click away. Read our reps experiences and love for our family and you too will see how special and unique our clan is.

Claire (@thegingyptians)

We started repping for Freddie Fox on Clare’s very first team as an enthusiast. It was only the second team we had ever been chosen for and I was so excited to be picked. I remember dancing around the living room feeling so chuffed. At that point Clare’s focus was on bibs, blankets, snoods and dummy clips and we had some beautiful bibs from her.

Here’s Kal at 5 months old rocking a Freddie Fox cloud bib

Freddie Fox has grown and changed a lot since we first joined - not only in their product range and makes but in the way the team communicates and works together. This has been wonderful, and I’ve enjoyed every part of the journey and what new people and old have brought to it. I feel incredibly blessed to have been a part of it from the start.

Clare’s #colouryouradventure range really sparked my creative instinct and I was honoured she trusted myself and Zoe (@lifewithmyrainbow) to draw up new designs for this collection. Everything the super talented Clare has made since has been so unique and bright that it’s a pleasure to be a part of a team with such a fantastic focus.

Design made into reality - The George Hoodie

As the designs and makes have evolved so has the team and the support that both Freddie Fox and the mamas involved need. The launch of the new range was fab as everyone on the team got to purchase one of the new designs, so everyone could see them on real kids. The Freddie Fox team got behind Clare to really showcase her amazing brand and makes.

Since then, the team has gone through a number of changes and new people have been added to the mix creating a diverse and fab collection of mamas who are passionate about Freddie Fox and each other. I feel so lucky to have such a fab group of ladies to chat to about anything from Clare’s latest fabrics to mental health to parenting challenges to what cake I want to eat it’s a real sense of community that you rarely find anywhere else apart from on Insta teams.

Kal rocking his ‘Keep it Simple’ Freddie Fox raglan.

I just wanted to say thank you to Clare and all the mamas I’ve met on her team both past and present and the real friends I’ve made and developed through Freddie Fox and Co. The daily support is invaluable xxx

Laura (@mamaandethan)

Freddie Fox and Co really has become a family to me. This bunch of mamas came into my life through our shared love of shopping handmade and supporting small. But what they have given me since is much more.

They are the first people I turn to for medical advice about Ethan. They are the ones that care to send me lovely messages and words of advice when I'm having a bad depression day. They are the ones that I share my daily life with.

The sisterhood of motherhood is strong. Much stronger than I could have ever anticipated before having Ethan nearly two years ago. I love seeing their children grow and knowing all their little quirks.

If that isn't family then I don't know what is. And I feel so lucky to have my FFNCO family with me every day

Lyssa (@lyssamcbean)

We’ve been part of the Freddie Fox and Co family since Feah was really small, joining as Brand enthusiasts initially before being picked as brand reps in our next application and finally being invited to be part of the Forever Family. I’m sure some people think I’m a bit crazy for taking such an interest in what my girls are dressed in but in those early days it merely started as a fox obsession! What began initially as a search for pretty clothes has really blossomed in to something quite a lot more special now. There are women on the team or who have been on the team who I’d count as friends, whose advice I trust and whose opinion I value. Without sounding like a sap, we really are a family.

I’m guilty of being one of those people who wonders at folk having ‘online’ friends but now I see the appeal. It’s nothing to do with being someone different for me or anything like that. I am who I am, in person or online; take me or leave me! When we joined the team, after Feah was born was a pretty sketchy time for me personally. Feah had been born with bowel issues and had a colostomy operation at 2 days old. I felt like a failure and despite being told not to, blamed myself; A LOT. It’s one of those things, people who know you look at you with such pity or on the flip side of that, there were those who thought I was some kind of superhero for managing her issues myself while having Lainey at home and Ian away. I just needed a place where I could feel like me again and that’s exactly what repping for Freddie Fox gave me! I never hid any of the issues we had from the team but as I’m sure you’ll read in this and future blogs, we all have our own stuff to deal with, so it seemed less obscure to be the person I was at the time. It also helped that Clare makes had yoga waistbands – try finding trousers that don’t cut a baby in half exactly where Feahs colostomy was situated!

So, there you have it. Why I love my Freddie Fox family summed up into a hopefully succinct 400 ish words! Here’s to the future of Freddie Fox!

Zoe (@lifewithmyrainbow)

Being home A LOT and unable to drive with a less than reliable bus service where we live has its downfalls. It means I can only get somewhere on foot and as we live somewhere pretty rural without even a local shop (but we do have 2 pubs!) It means life can get lonely, throw into that my battle with depression and anxiety and well the loneliness gets worse. Having access to social media sites is my way of staying connected to the outside world.

Since being on the #freddiefoxandco team I've got to know some absolutely amazing and inspirational mamas, there's always someone to talk to about anything without judgement, someone who knows just how you are feeling and plenty of virtual hugs to go around. As cheesy as it sounds the #freddiefoxfamily are always there to pick you up, offer advice or just a listening ear and it makes me feel just a little less isolated, a little less alone and a lot more involved in something.

Without these ladies I'd be pretty lost right now

Lauraa (@lauraaMartin)

I have been part of the Freddie Fox and Co family for only one term, but I really have found a family. Sometimes it feels like the team are in my head, we seem to feel the same about so many topics that it is amazing to feel supported in your values as well as your choices you make in everyday life.

While our little ones run around in the brightest clothing with so much personality it could burst, us mamas have found a home with people just like ourselves. I never want to leave Freddie Fox and Co and I am really sad that this term has come to an end because we have spent 3 months together, sharing our lives and I never want that to end!

Freddie Fox and Co has become part of my everyday life and I don’t go a single day without talking about the team to a friend, my mum or my boyfriend because you guys have become a huge part of my life and if this is the end of my Freddie Fox and Co journey, I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys have helped me more than you can ever know.

Emma (@gingeremjudge)

I was introduced to Freddie fox and co by Claire @thegingyptians who suggested I apply for a rep search. I was quite new to Insta and brand repping, but I knew I loved the FFnCO style. I felt so lucky to have made the cut.

The first job I had as a rep was to get involved in a fabric search. This is one of the things I love about being on the Freddie fox and co team it's a proper democracy. We get to help choose fabrics, vote for favourites and be involved in the design process. It's so fun and lovely to feel your opinion matters and your creativity is cultivated.

Another thing I love about the Freddie fox team is the rep chat group. To use a Scottish saying " it goes like a fair" and my husband wonders who is messaging me so often L.O.L but I just can't imagine my day now without it and I love the fact I never quite know what the chat will be from funny banter to the more serious times in the life the ladies are always up for a chat. Thank to everyone for making me so welcome in The Freddie fox family. Oh, and before I finish I must say a real favourite part of my Freddie fox life is my favourite dress...the Edith! Ladies…I had to shoehorn it in.

Jaz (@winging_mamahood)

I first joined Freddie Fox and Co this summer after @lyssamcbean suggested that I applied to Clare’s rep search. I was so ecstatic when we found out that we had made it into the exclusive team, but little did I know that I was not just joining a brand, I was one of the newest members of a fantastically close-knit family. Instantly, I felt welcome and wanted – my thoughts and opinions mattered and so did everyone else’s no matter how long they had been there.

Being on the team, I have found a new creative side to me that I had thought never existed and I have been able to recapture my identity as Jaz – not just Finn’s personal nappy changer. Motherhood can be lonely and dark – especially when teething and sleepless nights hit- but these wonderful ladies, who I have never met (apart from Lyssa), are always there – chances are at least one of them is also awake at 2am during a night time feed. No matter what you need – a recipe, a movie recommendation, feedback on a new outfit or just someone to vent to – the Freddie Fox family are always there for you and won’t judge if you are on to your second G&T on a Tuesday night.

Thank you to each and every member of our amazing family and thank you to the mother vixen – Clare – who believed in us and allowed us to join her family.

“Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.”

Charlotte (@charlotte5blondeboys)

Family isn’t always blood. Friends aren’t always someone we meet up with for a coffee. Sometimes its people wave never met. People inside our computers. Someone we can vent too in the middle of the night Someone we can share good news and bad with. Someone we can have virtual laughs with and actual laugh out loud moments with. Someone that’s just the click of a button away. They don’t judge, don’t mum shame. Can cheer up the sad days and make the good ones even brighter.

That’s what the Freddie Fox and Co team is to me.

Steph (@mamatoasleepthief)

When we (I) joined the FFNCO team I literally couldn’t believe my luck, I had loved the Freddie Fox clothes from afar and after speaking with Clare and placing my first order I was completely hooked! Previously I had been on rep teams for other clothing shops and struggled to really feel like I fit in with their style or gelled with the other reps etc.

I realised after chatting to the other Mama’s on the FFNCO team that I had found my people Here was a group of likeminded Mama’s who offered friendship, support, advice and (in some cases) hilarious stories - As the brand developed Clare began to offer the reps more responsibilities (choosing fabrics, naming designs, taking over FFNCO Insta, designing fabrics etc) and with that cemented the FFNCO family 🦊

I wouldn’t be without these other Mama’s now... plus Thea has THE most beautiful clothes to boot!

“Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.”

Clare, AKA the head of the FFNCO family, thank you so much for being you and bringing all of us together. Without you none of this would have been possible.