The Runaway Coast Story

Originally founded in 2009 in the picturesque English seaside town of Aldeburgh, Runaway Coast began with Claudia’s passion for creating beautiful, breezy fabrics and charming homewares infused with British seaside charm. A move from London in 2008 with her young family to the quiet Suffolk Coast having led marketing and buying for consumer retail brands, inspired her to start creating her own designs. The very essence that we sit eating fish and chips on the beach in the cold wind surrounded by the rugged beauty of the British Isles, and return year after year to make family memories sums up the spirit of coastal living Claudia wanted to encapsulate into the brand - a relaxed sophistication where the salty air, rolling waves, and windswept landscapes come together to inspire a sense of freedom and escape, where time briefly stops and relationships matter even more. 

A Story of Resilience, Reinvention, and the Essence of British Coastal Living

After a career in retail leadership and a transformative journey through the pandemic, Claudia relaunched lifestyle brand Runaway Coast in 2024, inspired by the beauty and simplicity of British seaside living. Combining her experience in business, her passion for coastal life, and a deep commitment to sustainability, Claudia’s vision is stronger than ever.

From Closing Doors to Rediscovering Purpose

Like many retailers, Runaway Coast faced significant financial challenges during its journey closing its doors in 2014. Rather than viewing it as a setback, Claudia used this time as an opportunity for learning, reflection and reinvention.

Drawing on her resilience and her deep understanding of retail, she returned to buying sourcing a wide range of own brand products for a chain of UK garden centres, whilst always reimagining what Runaway Coast could one day become.

Claudia’s determination to build her business tool box also resulted in her earning herself a Masters in Business, and has approached the relaunch of Runaway Coast with renewed financial vigour, expertise and a commitment to sustainability, influenced by her four years running a zoological charity,

With a strong sense of responsibility for the environment, Claudia has rebuilt the lifestyle brand with a focus on eco-friendly practices—it’s a celebration of the rugged beauty of the British Isles, a commitment to protecting nature, and a way to inspire others to reconnect with family, tradition, and the world around them.

Runaway Coast is dedicated to designing fabrics and crafting products that encapsulate the essence of coastal living, with designs inspired by the salty air, rolling waves, and windswept landscapes of the British coast. It offers a lifestyle of relaxed sophistication, where time seems to slow down, and life’s simple pleasures—like family, nature, and connection—become the focus, and in turn our designs become entwined in these memories.

And whatever your design project - inside or out - let us breathe fresh sea air right into the heart of it.

Founder: Claudia Allan