Today being worldwide Earth Day, I wanted to shine a light on linen and why we use this incredible 'earth friendly fabric' in all of our collections. Linen, not just naturally comfortable to wear, is truly beautiful inside and out with the greenest of credentials through and through.
Unsurprisingly the fashion industry is not known for being particularly green. Currently responsible for over 8% of total greenhouse emissions, not only does the demand for fast fashion fuel global warming but the needless waste generated ends up in landfill which further pollutes the environment. Earth Day, a yearly international celebration and movement since 1970, exposes the serious environmental problems we’re facing, in the hope of educating change through group activism. This year, through the theme of ‘Invest In Our Planet’, their campaign to cause change within the fashion industry couldn’t come soon enough.
Whilst a monumental task to clean up a global dirty industry, here at JTHQ, we try our best to make choices that help to promote change. As a boutique clothing company, one of the reasons I choose to make locally is to help cut down on carbon emissions and allow for batch-made production to minimise waste. We make styles that we think and hope will stand the test of time and be worn multiple times, longevity and value in the spirit of slow fashion over fast. We always choose natural fabrics unless 'deadstock' and linen is our queen of cloths, I can’t imagine designing a collection without it.
If you’d like to read more on the Earth Day movement or sign their petition to encourage legislative change through Government (US based) please do on their website:
https://action.earthday.org/the-fashion-industry-must-change
Nature of linen
The oldest ever recorded fabric, linen was prized by the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, perhaps they started the slow fashion movement! Centuries later, linen remains modern and contemporary with its luxurious simplicity, natural texture, taking colour brilliantly, effortless and comfortable. No wonder designers never tire of this cloth!
Not just design conscious, linen is incredibly kind to the skin, the flax fibre creating cloth that is naturally stain-resistant, anti-bacterial and fully breathable. Linen keeps you cool in summer, whilst providing natural insulation in the winter, an incredible fabric to wear all year round.
Eco-fabric
Linen is an ecologically remarkable fibre. Produced from flax, taking just 100 days to grow from seed to harvest, it is a zero waste fabric with every part of the plant used for production. Grown with rainwater alone, linen doesn't quench precious water supplies and with no need for fertilisers or polluting additives, once cropped, the soil is left even more enriched for replanting...amazing!
Primarily cultivated in Europe, flax also has the benefit of being grown closer to home, meaning that the carbon footprint of this fabric is much lower for us within the UK. We buy plain linens direct from Europe and all our colour woven checks are expertly woven in Ireland to our own designs.
Laundering your linen
Did you know that every time you wash polyester you release micro plastics into the environment? Each wash can release up to 700,000 microscopic plastic fibres, ending up in our rivers and seas, swallowed by marine life and even consumed by ourselves. By choosing natural fibres such as linen, we can help protect the environment.
When washing your linen, less is more. You should be able to get a fair few wears out of your piece due to linen’s anti-bacterial and stain-resistant properties, but when the time comes keep temperatures low at 30 degrees, better for the environment and the purse! Linen softens with age and takes on a beautiful patina over time. Wear yours over a lifetime!
This season we have created a new effortless everyday dress, the Lavenham. Made to be worn as simply as a t-shirt, slip on over the head and go for green!
See our other our linen styles...
Time to remember Fashion Revolution Week
This week is also Fashion Revolution Week, marking the anniversary of the horrific Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013 in which 1,138 workers were killed and many more injured working slavishly for high street fashion brands, anonymous victims to the thirst for fast fashion. As a slow fashion brand, we meet our makers regularly, swap experiences and support their endeavours week in and week out, fortunate to make locally and proud that this is a brand based on respect and partnership. All the clothes from the collection are made in Britain with care and consideration with the aim to bring you clothes with a conscience. We know that making in the UK is not cheap but we hope that our clothes are worn time and again offering high value per wear per item.
