‘Casual without being sloppy’: why flannel shirts are making a comeback

In many wardrobes, the thick, checked shirt is usually found among the gardening clothes, or it might be worn as an extra layer on a bitterly cold day. But, in 2026, for the first time since the 90s, it’s becoming a bona fide fashion item.

Flannel shirts have recently been worn by fashion editors and stylists on the front row, by the models Adwoa Aboah and Emily Ratajkowski and the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola. Brands including Marni, Chloé and Chanel had versions in their recent shows. And more significantly, this week comes the much anticipated new series of the Gen Z drama Euphoria, stills from which show Jacob Elordi’s character, Nate Jacobs, wearing a Bottega Veneta “flannel” shirt made of leather. Originally from the spring/summer 2023 collection, and worn by Kate Moss on the catwalk, it costs £4,600 in the shops.

Of course, most people aren’t wearing the catwalk version of the checked shirt. It’s popular on vintage sites: Depop reports that searches for lumberjack shirts are up 47% since last year. A £90 blue version by COS became a favourite at New York fashion week last year, either worn open or around the waist with a slip dress.

Hitanshi Kamdar, the deputy commerce editor at Grazia, has noticed this styling trick. “What we’ve really been seeing in fashion lately is this dichotomy of laidback piece paired with more polished separates,” she says. “It makes you look fashion forward without really needing too much forethought.”

This is not the first time the lumberjack shirt has been fashionable. Grunge made them hugely popular in the 90s and they date back to American outdoor brands such as Pendleton and Woolrich, which in the 19th century borrowed patterns from both Scottish tartan and Indian madras. “What is happening now is that all those references are being collapsed together,” says Andrew Groves, director of the menswear archive at Westminster University. “A flannel shirt can suggest heritage, rebellion, and ordinariness at the same time.”

Guardiola’s shirt, £270 and by the Swedish brand Our Legacy, made a strong case for the flannel shirt as a statement item in men’s wardrobes. Mahalia Chang, the style editor at GQ, argues that is because it contrasts with the tight-fitting clothes more usually worn by his colleagues. “I really like this look on Pep because it felt quite relaxed … it made him look a little bit younger, a little bit cooler,” she says.

Crucial to this – and the fashion take on the flannel shirt – is the fit, which should be loose, in the vein of Kurt Cobain’s 90s, rather than buttoned-up, preppy style.

Chang sees the lumberjack shirt as part of a wider trend for workwear. “It feels real, casual without being sloppy,” she says.

Groves says: “The checked shirt symbolises everyday masculinity. It may look ordinary, but it is interwoven with ideas of labour, rebellion and authenticity.”

To be a bit more authentic, Chang advises looking in your own wardrobe rather than buying new: “Flannels are cool because they get better as they age and get more worn in. I think you can really tell when one’s fresh off the rack.”

Kamdar, meanwhile, wears a treasured item. “One of my favourite checked shirts I have is a really old Ralph Lauren piece from my father’s wardrobe,” she says. “I wear it to death.”