Our A+R Linen Collection

Linen is a favourite among many makers.  It's sustainable and natural fibre properties make it a great eco choice when selecting fabric for your next garment or homewares project.  

Many of you are most probably very familiar with linen being an extremely versatile fabric to work with.  Most woven patterns can be created from linen, depending on the weight and it's generally a very stable fabric to work with.  It behaves well under the machine and holds a press well. 

Linen breathes beautifully, is comfortable against the skin, and is also a fairly easy fabric to care for.  Sure, it wrinkles, but a quick press can fix that or just embrace those wrinkles for their natural charm!  Also, if you reshape you're garments when you hang them to dry, you can avoid the need to press after every wash.  

Linen garments have an understated elegance to them making it a great fabric choice for creating classic shapes.  It's beautiful drape and relaxed look have made it a fashion favourite throughout the years.

Where does our linen come from?

Flax, the source for linen, is grown all over the world.  However, European Flax comes from flax grown in the coastal band of Western Europe stretching from France through to Belgium and the Netherlands.

European Flax cultivation is quite special.  It cannot be replicated nor relocated elsewhere due to its unique combination of European environmental factors; a rich soil and a natural damp ocean climate.  These distinctive conditions help to produce the flax that gives us the long, strong staple fibres that create our beautiful linen. 

This quality European Flax is then spun and woven at our mill in China.  Finding a production partner who aligned with our ethical and sustainable beliefs was incredibly important to us.  We wanted to ensure that the linen we brought to market, was the very best we could produce.  From the traceable raw European Flax, to the safest possible processes for staff and consumers, our mill honours their commitment to our environment.    

Which standards do they meet?

Our A+R Linen Collection is OKEO-TEX® 100 standard certified and European Flax® certified

Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX®  

"STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® is one of the world's best-known labels for textiles tested for harmful substances.  It stands for customer confidence and high product safety."

To obtain the Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX® certification, textiles undergo a neutral & independent test to check for harmful substances.  The list of substances the test covers can be found here.  

The standard takes into account the following:

The OEKO-TEX® laboratory tests include almost 100 test parameters and it also takes into consideration the intended final use of the textiles.  The more intensive the skin contact of a textile product, the stricter the limit values for each product class.

Look for Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX® certifications that meet:

Product class I: Articles for babies and toddlers
Product class II: Articles with direct contact to the skin 

European Flax®

"European Flax is the guarantee of traceability for premium linen fibre grown in Europe.  A natural and sustainable fibre, cultivated without artificial irrigation and GMO free."

Purchasing fabrics with this mark of quality ensures you are not only receiving the highest quality linen fabric on the market, you are also supporting sustainable production, respect for the environment, social ethics, and excellence in innovation.

The European Flax stamp also provides us with the guarantee that the raw flax used has been grown with;

The ZDHC supports the implementation of safer chemical management practices throughout the textile industry.  Their mission is to push towards zero discharge of hazardous chemicals in the textile industry.  See the roadmap of this plan here.