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If your singular goal in acquiring a blanket is to make sure your toes are covered, go get an $11 throw from IKEA. We won’t judge. We even own a couple ourselves.
But a blanket in 2020 can be so much more. Hundred-year-old heritage mills — like Pendleton, Woolrich, and Faribault — are enjoying a renaissance, reviving venerable styles in top-notch virgin wool. Meanwhile, upstarts like Best Made and Rumpl are churning out cabin-worthy throws perfect for the edge of a bedspread. And design houses like Olivia Wendel or SAVED are throwing all sorts of jungle cats on blankets these days, making art pieces that you can easily hang above the mantle, assuming you won’t be needing it on the couch.
Across the board, these styles (and a half-dozen others profiled here) will keep your whole body warm, not just your toes. They’re made of organic cotton or merino wool, and line with upycled linen or toasty sherpa. They’re cozy as hell. But they’ve got character, too. They were made by thoughtful people who actually care about blankets, niche world-interest it may seem. And they’ve got a life expectancy that’ll outlast the new decade, if not a few more after that. Below, find our favorites for this winter and those to come.
Faribault Revival Stripe Wool Throw
Faribault opened way back in 1865 in Minnesota and hasn’t really slowed down since. Its blankets have been “moth-proof” since the ’50s (that’s a real thing) and today most of its styles are made from a merino wool-cotton blend, surrounded by whipstitch edging, and dressed in simple designs that pretty effortlessly pump life into a room.
Rumpl Flannel Sherpa Blanket
Rumpl is best know for foldable outdoor blankets made from synthetic down. This cotton flannel throw is their first foray into sherpa, and they nailed it. Pick up a couple for the cabin upstate.
Red Tiger Landscape Blanket
Most designs in the textile industry are conceived digitally. Not so for New Haven-based artist Olivia Wendel, who hand-paints wildlife and other figures on flat paper before transferring them to USA-grown cotton picnic blankets. She’s mastered felines.
Upstate Eco Heather Blanket
You’re probably most familiar with Upstate for their sheets. The brand mixes organic cotton with upcycled fibers (linen, cashmere, modal in previous garments are blended to make something new) to make hyper-soft garments, and their Eco Heather Blanket fits the bill. This one’s lightweight, too, plus season-agnostic on the design front, so you should be able to coax some extra months out of it.
Best Made Co. Lumberlander Camp Blanket
Named for the upstate New York compound where Best Made tests its products, this camp blanket is made from domestic wool, with just enough cotton mixed in to not feel like the holiday sweater you wore in elementary school. It’s low-key huge (72″ x 66″) but very portable (check those leather straps) and comes in two yarn-dyed finishes.
Pendleton Los Ojos Blanket
A mic-drop blanket from probably the most famous wool mill in the States. Pendleton’s Pacific Northwest factory has been churning out 100% Americana for over a hundred years, and there’s no better way to quickly inject a bit of the West into your home. Expect a cotton and virgin wool blend that can cover a twin bed. Keep it in the bedroom, drape it over your couch, hang it from your wall. It’ll stunt no matter what.
Coyuchi Cirrus Organic Throw
Coyuchi earned the “Best Looking” superlative on our review of non-terrycloth bath towels, and the aesthetes at the 30-year-old NorCal brand brought that sensibility to this striped, organic cotton throw. This one could capably handle afternoons on the beach, in case you want to get some year-round use.
Woolrich Rough Rider Sherpa Blanket
This family-owned brand’s been churning out cozy wool wares since a large swarth of the United States was still called “Michigan Territory.” This buffalo plaid number was stitched in Woolrich’s Pennsylvania factory and features a wool/nylon blend with Sherpa lining.
Blacksaw Harvest Moon Blanket
Blacksaw was born on a surf trip to South America, and makes a variety of 100% baby alpaca fleece throws. The vibe here is minimalist, pared-back, decluttered; it’s what you’d probably find folded at the end of your bed on a coastal wellness retreat. If you ever get bored of one side, flip to the other. It’s reversible, in mirrored color schemes.
Schoolhouse Shaniko Throw
Schoolhouse was founded 17 years ago in a 115-year-old factory building; it’s officially called Schoolhouse Electric, and mainly makes vintage lighting analog clocks, and other domestic utility wares, but it also appreciates an old-school blanket. This one was made in partnership with a local ranch called Imperial Stock, which dyes its yarns with custom colors.
Faherty Cinnamon Hills Sherpa Blanket
Predictably, the label that routinely wins “Softest” and “Comfiest” superlatives when we power-rank jackets and Henleys also makes one hell of a blanket. Faherty meshed long-staple cotton yarns with a Sherpa lining, and topped it off with indigenous-inspired weaves. To honor those who originally conceptualized the patterns, a portion of sales are donated to Spirit Horse Nation and Lakota Way Healing Center.
SAVED Cashmere Greek Painting
The Hicus goats of Mongolia’s grassland steppe grow thick coats to make it through the country’s brief, polar vortex winters, then shed that hair when the sunny days arrive. The result makes some of the best cashmere in the world. Gramercy Park-based design house SAVED has family in Mongolia and works with local tradeswoman to make heritage pieces with punchy designs. This one could end up draped across a couch or bed, if you’re so inclined (it’s certainly soft enough) but we’d probably hang it in all its glory as a tapestry.
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