A Linen Love Affair
Picture this: you’re on holiday, tasting your way through an open-air market on a small Greek island — Syros perhaps — as a warm summer breeze blows through your hair. What are you wearing? If we were to hazard a guess, it would probably be linen.
Why so much love for this fabric?
For a fabric that is used for everything from bed sheets and tablecloths to ruffled maxi dresses, linen is an elusive one. If you’ve ever worn a pair of crisp linen pants, like these timeless pleated culottes from Wassskin, then you’ll know just how comfortable linen can be. But what else makes the fabric so special that people have been using it for thousands of years? For starters, linen — which is made from woven flax fibers — is one of the more sustainable fabrics on the market thanks to its natural origins and biodegradability. But it is also one of the most versatile: linen fibers are soft, breathable, long-lasting, insulating, moisture-wicking, quick-drying and naturally anti-bacterial.
The Local Edit could start a fan club dedicated entirely to linen — that’s how much we love it. Luckily for all of us, there are many South African brands that feel the same.
Taking this passion for all things natural to new heights, Cape Town-based studio Beagle & Basset hand-dyes 100% linen items with botanical plant extracts to create ethereal pieces.
Hannah Lavery — another much-loved brand from Cape Town — also makes elegant and minimalist linen dresses, shirts, pants, and overalls. We’ve also got our eye on Raya Rossi Studio’s whimsical Atacama dress, a playful mid-length frock with two romantic bow closures at the chest. And an all-time classic, the Eden classic linen shirt from Titch.
The love affair with linen doesn’t end with clothes: brands like Freya Hats bring the fabric to your accessories as well with their small-batch linen hats (they even have a bucket hat for babies!).