For more than thirty years we have been designing, weaving and refining flatweave at Roger Oates Design. From the outset, our founders, Roger Oates and Fay Morgan established an ethos rooted firmly in heritage, craftsmanship and an enduring appreciation for woven textile. Those principles are something that we continue to practice and honor to this day, shaping every design we create. 

It is not often we talk about our archives and the designs that sit quietly behind the scenes. Yet for every new creation, we return to this carefully preserved body of work, where decades of colour, pattern and experimentation remain an integral and invaluable source of the Roger Oates story. Even now, we can find weaves, techniques and methods used since our very beginnings still inspiring current and contemporary designs today.

When we look back to the beginning, our first rolls of flatweave were woven on specially adapted Hattersley Looms, modified to weave our narrow width striped runners that would become synonymous to Roger Oates Design. These pioneering first designs laid the foundations for every collection that followed, creating the visual storytelling that continues to evolve over time, and with traces still seen in our designs to this day.

Since 1989, we have explored the relationship between colour, pattern and texture, discovering that even the smallest element or detail from an archival piece could spark the creation of some of our most iconic and well loved designs. With some motifs revisited as almost exactly as they first appeared, others are reimagined through a more contemporary lens that are translated into fresh palettes and updated constructions.

George Black, for example, was inspired by the original patterned flatwoven fragment that captured Roger and Fay’s imagination and set them on the path to creating Roger Oates Design. With its bold, contrasting border and timeless character, it remains a design that closely connects modern day flatweave with its earliest origins. More recently, we introduced Chelsea Ember, a reimagining of our iconic and intricately patterned 1997 design, Tribal. Reworked to reveal the complex original weave and enriched with a deeper, more contemporary palette,  Chelsea Ember reflects how archival design can be consciously reinterpreted to suit modern spaces while maintaining a strong connection to historic interiors.

It is not just flatweave that pulls inspiration from our archives. From our hand tufted collections, Revisionist echoes rug designs sketched by our founders from the 1980s. Bauhaus, taken from an original drawing in our studio, is one such design that has been reimagined for modern living. With its large blocks of colour and abstract angles, Bauhaus is a sentimental design that shares an unbreakable bond between the past and present.

What makes our archive particularly special is that it is not simply a record of past collections, but that many of these flatweave designs can still be woven today. Whether you choose to recreate an original design in its traditional colourway, or work with our Design Team to create a new, bespoke palette and details tailored to your home, the process remains an exciting and collaborative journey for our clients.

Built on the foundations of craftsmanship, heritage and an understanding of tradition, our archives remind us that good design is rarely fleeting. The stories of our flatweave are woven slowly and continue to evolve, keeping the thread between the past and present alive and connecting everything we create together. If you want to find out more about past designs, visit our Archive page for further inspiration, or get in touch with our team to find out more about archive and bespoke designs, tailored for you.