Fox Brothers & Co Ltd

Since 1772, cloth has been woven at Fox Brothers with the utmost care. The step by step process to create their award winning fabrics involves many skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. Yarn is carefully sourced mainly from UK spinners. At each stage of the process quality is paramount. From British kempy wools to the high quality superfine merino wool to delicate worsteds; all are carefully sourced for the wide variety of fabrics woven at Fox.

Once the yarn is selected, the set of the cloth is carefully constructed. First the yarn is wound onto cones for the desired piece length. In turn these cones make the warp which at times can consist of over 5000 ends. These ends are ordered in the chosen pattern. Once woven, the cloth on its beam is moved to the inspection area to be measured and darned.

The second step of magic starts in finishing. Each woven ‘greasy’ cloth is finished to a unique formula which starts with scouring, where lanolin found in the yarn is removed. Flannels are then milled for hours to break the fibres and bring out the softness in each individual thread.

Fox Brothers is officially credited as the original creator of flannel. In addition to their excellent bunches of flannel cloth, the range also includes worsteds, from lightweight (180 grams) to the more classic, heavier weights. The range of flannels has developed over the last two centuries and now includes woollen flannels in rich mélange shades, as well as sophisticated lighter weight worsted flannels. These flannels are produced from the finest wool, woven and milled into cloth with a fabulous fluid hand-feel.

See more about the Fox Brothers mill here.