Oxbridge Flannel: a closer look at colour, pattern and surface
What makes a familiar cloth feel relevant again? For John Foster’s refreshed Oxbridge Flannel, the answer is in the relationship between surface, pattern and colour. The collection retains the character of an authentic flannel while refining the choices designers have at the start of a new season.
As we mark The Campaign for Wool’s Wool Month, Oxbridge offers a timely example of what wool brings to cloth development. Made from 100% Super 120’s RWS Merino wool at 370 g/m, its character is shaped by the designs woven into it and by the way the fibre responds to yarn choice and finishing.
A surface that changes the design
Oxbridge is a worsted and woollen flannel with a double-milled finish. Milling softens the surface, giving the cloth its characteristic blind appearance: the weave becomes less visually pronounced, while the wool fibres and depth of colour come forward. A stripe appears gentler at its edges; a check feels integrated into the cloth rather than sitting sharply on top of it.
The combination of yarn types is central to its appeal. Worsted contributes drape and durability, while woollen yarn brings loft, softness and richness of colour. Together they create a cloth with substance and a nuanced surface, giving designers a distinctive material from which to develop a palette or pattern story.
Traditional patterns, considered anew
The refresh began with a close look at trend insights and wider market direction, while remaining true to Oxbridge’s original design intent. Traditional chalk stripes remain, joined by a wider stripe in classic tones, olives and browns. That change of scale gives a familiar motif a different presence and allows designers to build variation within a coherent group of cloths.
The glen checks have also been broadened. Black and white provides a clear, graphic foundation, while a wider spectrum of shades opens up quieter tonal relationships. Against the softly milled surface, designers can explore contrast with sensitivity, from defined pattern to colour combinations that reveal themselves more gradually.
A more grounded palette
Plains remain an important part of Oxbridge, now with greater emphasis on neutrals and rustic undertones. Olive and khaki sit alongside cream and camel, extending the classic range with colours that can connect stripes, checks and solids across a wider collection. Subtle contemporary touches give the palette movement without competing with the quality of the cloth.
For the John Foster design team, the aim was an evolution that felt considered and commercially grounded. Its strength lies in confident simplicity: authentic flannel, a refined range of traditional designs and colour choices that leave room for a fashion house’s own point of view.
Wool Week is an opportunity to look closely at those decisions. Explore the refreshed Oxbridge Flannel collection and speak with the John Foster team about the patterns, shades and surface qualities that could inform your next development.
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