About us

Glad you stopped by.

We're James & Eleanor, a couple from Newcastle who have been picking out clothes together for twenty-five years. We met when Eleanor was working in a small boutique near the coast and James walked in one afternoon looking for a present for his sister. Twenty-five years later we still do the same thing: choosing clothes for the women around us, and these days for the women we haven't met yet either.

Mercer & Loxley grew out of those years. Not out of a grand plan, not out of an investment round, but out of habit. Eleanor chooses, James second-guesses, and when we both think it's beautiful, it goes in the shop. Many of our best choices, by the way, aren't made at home but on the road: on holiday, in a small Italian village, or on a terrace in the south of France. That's where we see how women dress for the lives they actually have, and we bring that back with us.

What matters to us along the way is simple. A dress should fit the way a dress is meant to fit. A set should be made well enough that you still wear it after a season. And the price should be fair, not just for us, but for you too.

Our customers are women at all sorts of points in their lives. Women going to a wedding, to dinner, on holiday, or just to a neighbour's birthday. Women with a day to themselves, and women with a diary that's overflowing. We pick pieces for all of those moments, because we know what it's like to stand in front of the mirror the night before, still hesitating.

We hope you find something lovely here. And if you have a question, a doubt about sizing, or just want to share something, let us know. James or Eleanor will read it, and you'll get an answer from one of us.

With love from Newcastle, James & Eleanor