Megan Lawrence had just finished up her old job at an earthmoving company as COVID-19 restrictions began to tighten.
As she sat in isolation on her 24-hectare property in Riddells Creek in northern Victoria, she decided to spend time brushing up on her old skills in the fashion industry and design her own country clothing logo.
Inspired by farming life, she launched Country Mile.
The brand seems to be defying the odds and succeeding in a tough market.
A local printing company orders in the apparel from Melbourne and prints her clothing, ready for her to pick up.
Orders had become so frequent she needed to restock each week, she said.
Online shopping
"Everyone's spending a lot of time at home, and it might be because they are on their phone a little bit more or simply that you can't go out — or should not go out — to buy any clothes at the shops at the moment," Ms Lawrence said.
"You can buy all of the big brands online but people can also buy from small businesses like mine as well. In Australia, high-end country brands are quite expensive, so I'm looking for something a little more affordable."
She has noticed a strong demand from females, many in rural areas, purchasing her winter clothing.
"I like to think it's something a bit different. In country apparel rugby jumpers are very sought-after, but not widely available — female customers are really attracted to that," Ms Lawrence said.
Fashion sales dramatically decline
University of Sydney fashion academic Lisa Heinze said it was a surprise to hear about the initial success of the small business during COVID-19.
Dr Heinze said in Australia, and the rest of the world, fashion sales had dramatically decreased and would suffer long-term implications not just for business owners but factory workers across the world.
In Ms Lawrence's case, she said, the desire to support local may have made a difference.
"There's probably a few things going on: I think farmers have still got to work, don't they? If you work on the land, your lockdown scenario probably doesn't change your work," Dr Heinze said.
"I suspect she's also benefiting from the real push to support Australian brands, particularly following the bushfire crisis earlier this year — that Australian pride."
Short-term goals
Ms Lawrence said she was already kicking her short-term goals for the brand during COVID-19, having received hundreds of online orders in the past two months.
"I said to myself, I just want to see one person that I don't know wearing my brand and in a random place, which has already happened — that just made me so happy," she said.
"And postage has actually been surprisingly good. I thought it was going to be really delayed, but everyone has been really happy with that so far — nothing is really holding me back just yet.
"We keep expanding, so I'm hopefully going to need a bigger space."
