Sustainable | Durable | Healthy
What is Linen?
Linen is a versatile textile made from the fibres of the flax plant - yes, the plant that grows from the same tiny flax seeds that you may include in your breakfast granola or smoothies! It is laborious to manufacture, but its fibre is strong and absorbent, and the resulting fabric is celebrated for drying very quickly after becoming wet.
Garments made of linen have been valued for hundreds of years for their exceptional coolness and freshness in hot and humid weather; linen is one of the oldest textiles used by humankind, with discoveries dating back more than 30,000 years.
Today linen is valued for its unique texture and natural patterns, for both fashion and interior décor, as well as in the bath and bedroom.
European Flax
Flax is farmed successfully within Northern Europe as it is very resilient and can grow without any artificial irrigation. Regular rainfall in northern France, along with the mild climate, provide perfect growing conditions for flax plants.
Therefore, flax is not needed to be imported to Europe from far distances. Instead, it is cultivated and processed in mainland Europe and woven into high end linen fabric in Ireland.
European flax farms also have a significantly positive impact on the environment as they yearly absorb 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Linen Vs Cotton
LINEN SAVES WATER
The growth of flax requires much less water than cotton. Linen only uses 3% of the water required for cotton production. Cotton requires intensive irrigation: 7,100 litres of water are needed to produce 1 kilogram of cotton.
LINEN LASTS LONGER
Linen fibre is 30% stronger than cotton fibre, so this makes it much more durable.
LINEN IS ANTIBACTERIAL
Linen, as opposed to cotton, is naturally an antibacterial and antiseptic fibre that has been used by humans for thousands of years. All flax linen has some ability to inhibit bacterial growth. Used for centuries to dress wounds, in recent hospital testing, it caused a reduction of bacterial infections between 30% to 55% when tested on staphylococcus. As our natural human body odour is caused by bacteria, wearing linen garments helps to keep us fresher for longer.
FLAX GROWS LOCALLY
Flax plants can grow in wetter, cooler climates; therefore it does not have to be imported from afar. There are many flax farms in Northern Europe that supply nearby linen fabric mills, making for a more sustainable industry than those importing cotton.
LINEN IS FASHIONABLE
Due to its natural patterns and textures, each linen piece is uniquely beautiful. Linen is special and timeless.