Flexible facing systems, the main element of which is a pinned net, are widely used to stabilise ground layers on slopes. Today, this technique benefits from decades of successful experience. The optimisation of their design has motivated a great deal of research, based on experiments and numerical modelling, particularly in recent years. This literature review first gives a synthetic overview of the available analytical design methods, before presenting the various research studies that have been carried out on flexible facing systems. The response of flexible facing systems is then discussed in a didactic manner, focusing on the membrane and paying particular attention to the mechanisms and parameters that influence this response. The relevance of current practices in terms of component characterisation tests and analytical approaches to design is then discussed. Finally, the latest research is presented and the best design criteria are discussed.