As the owner of a luxury brand, I often find myself thinking about the concept of luxury.
In my younger years, I had a different idea of what luxury meant. Luxury came in the form of brand labels and yachts, lobster dinners, and bottles of Dom Pérignon. Luxury was a concept that had been pre-packaged and spoon-fed to me by a society that thrived on hype.
As I grew older and experienced more of the world, my ideas of what defined luxury started to change. I learned that not everything presented as luxurious was crafted in that accord. That sometimes designer clothes came from sweatshops and that Patron is actually terrible tequila. Luxury wasn’t something that could be made up in a marketing meeting. It was something you had to experience.
In response, I started to develop my own standards of what defined luxury. I began turning dresses inside out to look at sewing terminations and reading the ingredients listed on the bottles of fancy skin care products. I also began finding luxury in the simpler affairs of life; in taking long baths, in enjoying a home cooked meal, in taking that afternoon nap.
If there is one place where luxury can be discrete yet, make its presence felt, it’s the home. When I started designing our fabric collections, I knew luxury had to be at the heart of what we were creating. I wanted to make sure our clients would be able to have this type of experience with our products. It was during this search for innate luxury that I fell in love with Belgian Linen.
Our Belgian Linen Grounds
So what is Belgian Linen? We've all heard about it. You might have even fallen in love with its beautiful natural color, luxurious sheen, and impeccable drape! But what exactly is Belgian Linen and why is it different from other fabrics?
Here are a few things we love about it and why we only use certified Belgian Linen in our collections.
Natural Components:
Belgian Linen is composed of fibers woven from the flax plant. I find that natural fibers bring a level of luxury that is hard to match with synthetic fibers; especially when it comes to how the fabric drapes and how it wears after wash and use.
Sustainable DNA:
Flax, the crop from which Belgian Linen is produced, is one of the most sustainable raw materials on the planet. The flax plant is a low maintenance crop, requiring no additional irrigation; rainwater is sufficient. Additionally, in comparison to other crops, far fewer pesticides and fertilizers are used in the production of flax.
Life Cycle:
Not only does Belgian Linen provide a lifetime of beautiful and long-lasting color, body, texture, and breathability. Once discarded, the fabric can fully biodegrade in less than seven months.
Accountability:
Only six weavers around the world carry the Belgian Linen quality label, a symbol of linen woven in Belgium from at least 85% European flax fibers. It is a guarantee of quality, traceability, fair labor, and authenticity, independently managed and supervised by the Belgian Linen Association.
Why we love it?
Our love for Belgian linen transcends its physical beauty. Simply put, we love how it is made and what it is made of. Because luxury isn't something you made up in marketing meetings, it is something that is engrained in a product's DNA; how it is grown, how it is put together, who makes it, the sacrifices its production requires, and who pays those dues. Because can luxury truly exist in the absence of ethics?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on incorporating luxury into the modern home and if you share some of our values regarding what makes up the small and big luxuries of life.
Ideal for drapery and upholstery projects, our hand-printed textiles are available for purchase by the yard and as made-to-order pillows. Learn more about our fabrics here.
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