We love Linen! And why you should too.

Simply put, it is the oldest and most sustainable fabric in the world!

While the evidence is sparse from prehistoric times, it appears that Neolithic peoples in Europe were making textiles from linen as long as 36,000 years ago! Ancient Egyptians even wrapped their mummies in Linen!

Versatility and effortless style of Linen

Linen is super versatile and derives from the Flax plant. Flax can grow in areas with poor soil conditions that may not be suitable for other crops. It requires little irrigation, with rainwater often enough to grow a sustainable crop. It is also much hardier than traditional cotton crops too and requires less pesticides and fertilisers to grow.

Linen takes around 100 days to grow before being harvested whereas cotton takes around 150-180 days. In contrast to linen, cotton crops are highly sensitive to variable weather conditions and it is thought that climate change is threatening global cotton production due to temperature extremes, drought stress and irregular rainfall patterns. As an important cash crop, various studies are available that discuss the impact of climate change on cotton. Linen is much less susceptible to these unpredictable extremes due to its increased hardiness.

Storm over harvest

It is important to note that cotton typically takes around 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of product (which is equivalent to one single t-shirt according to the World Wide Fund for Nature) Cotton is also grown in warmer climates such as India and requires typically more intensive irrigation from local watercourses due to their low rainfall. This irrigation in times of water shortage can reduce water availability to local communities. In 2015, the Guardian Newspaper produced an article which stated “The water consumed to grow India’s cotton exports in 2013 would be enough to supply 85% of the country’s 1.24 billion people with 100 litres of water every day for a year. Meanwhile, more than 100 million people in India do not have access to safe water”