"Linen is an ally of size for a more responsible lifestyle": fiber with a thousand virtues seduces consumers and fashion designers

Depuis le 8 mai et jusqu'au 21 juin, un petit champ de lin végétalise les trottoirs de la rue de Rivoli en face de la Mairie de Paris. Dans le cadre de l’opération Jardinons, la Confédération Européenne du Lin et du Chanvre et le BHV Marais mettent en avant ce végétal. Dès le 19 mai à la réouverture du magasin, le lin l'investira avec des pop-ups mode et art de vivre.

But for the moment in front of his windows, discover in bins, linen as it pushes naturally in the fields.Young linichers have raised the challenge of growing this plant specifically for this event.Meetings and explanations with Romain Depestele, culture manager of the Depetele group(first private producer in Europe) and Marie-Emmanuelle Belzung, General Delegate of the European Confederation of Linen and Hemp(CELC).

A committed fiber that is good for the planet

80 % of linen culture comes from a coastal strip from Caen to Amsterdam.France is n ° 1 of production with 80% of European flax fiber production(Belgium 15% and the Netherlands 5%).This plant is an ally for a more responsible lifestyle because its culture is sustainable: it is part of "major crops and is a salutary break for the soils" details Romain Depestele.

Linen is a zero GMO plant, which does not require any defoliant and no irrigation(at 99.9%) and requires very few inputs(note, element entering a production process)."Once the sun and the rain have done their job to grow the plant, the linen is torn off and then placed on the field in the swaths(note, bands) for the reinforcement operation - natural maceration process.Which will allow a better separation of the parts of the flax straw.Fiber extraction(wave) is 100% mechanical.All parts of the plant are valued: zero waste.Agriculture and wave are done in rural areas and are providers of non-relocatable jobs "add the culture manager of the Depestele group.

Lin, humble and rare, represents 0.4% of world textile fibers - but it is great in its qualities.A conference(below) - Dedicated to the traceability of Lin and Cotton materials - which was held within the framework of Fashion Revolution Week(from April 19 to 25, 2021) - allows you to learn even more about this plant.This NGO, working for more transparency in the textile industry, gave birth to a movement born after April 24, 2013 when the Rana Plaza, a building of clothing for the Western market, in Bangladesh, collapsed.

A plant that is good for those who wear it

Linen, the oldest fabric in the world, has gone through history.If it is currently popular, it is not without reasons: its fiber has many intrinsic qualities that are found in different products including the world of fashion."Linen is thermoregulator: fresh in summer, hot in winter, its maintenance is easy.Flax fibers have the distinction of absorbing shocks which makes it the ideal equipment for industrial applications and for sports and leisure.Its rigidity and lightness allow you to have resistant and light materials which opens the doors of the transport industry, "explains Romain Depestele.

At a time when the consumer is generally looking for more well-being and therefore products that meet these expectations, a study conducted for CELC by the Cetelor laboratory insists on its many qualities.It shows that "linen has great breathability, has great air permeability which allows good ventilation and therefore allows you to dry sweat.He has a low evaporative resistance, he lets perspiration pass....The Egyptians knew it before us, linen is the first textile material used, it is a material that is very much worn in hot countries ".

More expensive but labeled products

Today, consumers are also attentive to certificates that guarantee the composition and French manufacturing of products and also seek, more and more often, to refer to labels.A flax barometer made in 2015 highlights that six in ten consumers are ready to pay more for a certified linen product."The CELC has created two labels: European Flax, certification of flax traceability of quality cultivated in Western Europe, eco-responsible fiber all outlets, each transformation step, is audited by the independent organization Bureau Veritas.A traceability which, when it is ensured by European companies - for each link in the chain to the wire and the fabric - is labeled Masters of Linen, registered trademark and textile excellence club ", specifies Romain Depestele.

A flax barometer(to appear) based on a study carried out by IFM on the perception and consumption of flax in six countries(France, England, Italy, USA, India and China) indicates that flax is considered a fiberhigh -end, its higher price therefore being justified for the panels questioned.Because producing a linen garment costs more, notes Romain Depestele: "Linen fiber is more expensive, because the need for labor for production is high: 4 times more than for wheat in terms of agriculture".And to specify: "Today linen is on all levels of range of the market, whether on market mass or DNVB(note, native native digital brand) or even luxury creators who have acclaimedMatter in summer 2021 ".

Promised to a bright future

Linen is a major ally for a more responsible lifestyle."The characteristics inherent in linen fiber meet the new consumer requirements and expectations for whom creativity, whether in mode, living and house, performance and responsibility redefine the concept of quality.Linen is more topical than ever "underlines, for its part, Marie-Emmanuelle Belzung.

The enthusiasm of creators for this fabric is real, the figures speak for themselves.CELC has ordered Tagwalk(search engine by keyword) two studies on the presence of linen on international fashion weekends(Paris, Milan, London and New York) and the results are convincing.

For Alexandra Van Houtte, the founder of Tagwalk: "Linen continues continuously in research at Tagwalk with an increase of 25% in 2020 vs 2019."Although the latest Fashion Weeks took place in an extraordinary context, linen was very present in the ultra creative video of creators as shown Tagwalk:" The spring-summer 2020 season clearly showed a breakthrough in the linen inLuxury collections: with 11% linen all collections combined and with at least one linen look, this figure even rose to 16.1% for large houses(Prada, Acne, Miu Miu) ".

For the summer of 2021, the linen is clear with a leap of "+102 % of linen looks in the female collections compared to the spring-summer 2020 season".A record figure: "+ 49 % of designers presented at least one linen look in their collections and 64 % of brands use flax for the first time in their collections(Dior, Thom Brown, Fendi, Louis Vuitton)".If we note that 28% of the houses with linen come from large groups(Fendi, Stella McCartney, Maison Margiela...), it is also largely present in the collections of more mainstream brands, it is thus noted at Zara which uses Line Certified European Certified.

On the technical innovation side, linen mixes with other noble fibers such as wool or cashmere in winter.The field of possibilities in mixtures is infinite and seduces creators who seek a certain simplicity as shown in Tagwalk: "Linen has been able to free itself from its historical codes and at the same time it is for these same codes that it isAimed, the creators, air sensors(as we have seen everything), like to use this material for these contrasts.(...) The innovation of European spinners has enabled the development of a specific linen thread in the past ten years for the mesh, today the linen mesh has become essential for all brands ".Washed linen also met the expectations of new consumers who "no longer wanted to waste time ironing: a new style has arrived in the house with a cooler proposal and an infinite range of colors, because the linen absorbs the dye well"".

This spring-summer 2021, it is available in a palette of neutral, white and black via tones of ivory or gray, punctuated by bright touches.Linen likes to confront other materials - satin, wool and velvet - and gets ricked with colorful denims or XXL mesh. Matière genderless(ndlr, unisexe), sa présence est plus forte chez la femme mais en progression chez l’homme.

Fetish matter of eco -responsible brands -by its intrinsic qualities and its impeccable environmental profile -, it is present at Maison Margiela, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood.According to Alexandra Van Houtte, this rise in power for two seasons suggests an increase in its use which it estimates "at + 171% for the winter 2021-22 collections".

Another luxurious elegance present at the museum

Linen even interests museums: in the Luxurian exposure to Mad - which is extended upon the reopening of May 19 - the walls of the rooms are covered with thick and golden linen which will then be recycled in works of art.CELC is a patron of the exhibition.Virtuous by nature, linen today codifies another elegance, of exemplary sobriety as illustrated here, here, two historic pieces of linen lace and a silhouette of the Marseille creator Simon Porte Jacquemus.These are two complementary expressions of a luxury in renewal where the concepts of sustainability, authenticity and responsibility are now involved in play.