There are few things so desire-inducing as peering inside someone else’s linen cupboard and seeing the treasures within. It can evoke memories of childhood – a mother or grandmother, perhaps, who had a beautifully stocked pile of linen, ready to lay a table with – or perhaps it simply promises fun dinner parties with well laid tables.
“Linen is one of the most beautiful materials and I love being surrounded by it at home,” says Allegra Marchiorello, CEO and Creative Director of Once Milano. “It's natural and the fibre has been around for thousands of years, but it's also very practical and strong: warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and it catches the light beautifully.” In other words, it’s luxurious and yet steadfastly practical. So it’s no wonder we’re falling back in love with the fabric: Instagram reports more than 6.5m posts with the hashtag #linen.
Long-lasting as the material is, it is possible to pass linens down from generation to generation, and this is one good reason to buy high quality pieces. Allegra says her grandmother had a great collection, and that she was “lucky enough to have the same initials as my grandmother, AM, so I inherited most of her linens and monograms.” Similarly, Natalie Sytner, founder of Bettina Ceramica, says the vintage linen collection she inherited from her Italian mother “reminds me of warm summer’s evenings as a child, eating outside in the garden, which are all just the best memories.”
If you don’t have the fortune of inheriting a linen stash, then you can pick up vintage pieces at markets, brocantes and antique fairs. “Ever since I can remember, my mother collected vintage linens from Italian markets,” Natalie says, who now takes her own daughter with her on shopping trips. “There is a wonderful monthly market in Lungomare, where my dad lives in Bordighera, right in front of the sea; we always time our trips there so we don’t miss it.”
Closer to home, the antiques fairs from Ardingley to Newark, as well as the upcoming Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in Battersea, often have sellers with vintage and antique linens, and Antique Lace and Linen in north London is a joy to enter. Nina Hertig, the vintage dealer and owner of Aelfred in east London, has also recently added vintage linens to her emporium.
When picking vintage pieces, textile dealer Su Mason says, “ensure it is clean and pristine; old darns are acceptable, but holes are difficult to hide - or rather it’s a pain to get them darned nicely these days.” She also adds that “linen should feel cold to the touch, while cotton is not, and you should also check if pieces are hand- or machine-hemmed; linen damask is usually hand stitched.” Above all, Nina adds, while there is a lot to learn about textiles, “use your instinct to find the pieces that speak to you.”
While collecting vintage linen might have a romantic charm, Allegra warns that actually there are some practical concerns. “The linen that our grandmothers owned was incredibly hard. Our tastes have changed: we want it soft and colourful; we also are likely to tumble dry it and less likely to iron it.” For this reason, new linen, especially bedding, can often be more attractive.
For those who want to start their own collection of modern heirlooms, it’s wise to start with a quality fabric that will stand the test of time. “I've always been attracted to the texture of linen, but it wasn't until I began working with a mill and learning about the different weaving and finishing processes that my respect for the fabric as well as the weavers themselves grew,” Gemma Moulton, founder of East London Cloth company, says. “I think its delicate appearance can be misleading. Linen is really hardy and long lasting, which is something that's really important to us when thinking about making products.”
Monogramming your linen is a tradition that stretched back to the ancient world, but it became more common in the 18th century, when households would have their laundry taken away and cleaned, and needed an identifying mark. Recently, it has come back into vogue. The tableware brand TABLE delights in its range of hand embroidered cloths, all made by an atelier in Marseille (from €390). “They add a very luxurious yet simple touch to one's table,” co-founder Alice Moireau says. “The fabric is heavy and the style very French but the colour give a little modern touch to the product.” Meanwhile East London Cloth collaborated with the embroiderer Cressida Jamieson to create bespoke tablecloths and napkins embroidered with names as part of their collection, Family Linens.
If monogramming your table linen still doesn't feel quite personal enough, Yolke founder Ella Ringer has sparked a trend for matching our table cloths to our dresses (it was born in lockdown when she had excess party frock cloth). Since then, the idea has exploded. “It’s super fun to put together a tablescape and match it to your outfit. It’s a modern twist on entertaining but also harks back to Victorian times, when hats and cakes competed for attention in flamboyant manner,” she explains. Try the brand’s hydrangea tablescape collection paired with the matching dress (a set of six napkins is £125).
But it’s not just our tables where we appreciate linen: linen bedsheets, pillowcases and quilt covers provide a cosy-in-winter and cool-in-summer appeal, thanks to the inherent thermodynamic properties in the natural fibres. “Linen bedding has this wonderful timeless quality which makes it feel like you might have uncovered it in your grandmother's treasured linen closet,” Jessica Hanley, founder of Piglet In Bed, says. “We are really leaning into that nostalgic feeling this year with patterns and styles, like a new ticking stripe, that nod to British heritage and summers spent in muddy country houses.” Other retailers we love include Toast, which has a wonderful selection of linen to give a bed a lived in, cosy vibe, while the de Le Cuona Pure Bed Linen collection, a 100% organic linen bed linen range, is also incredibly luxurious.
And if you really want to maximise your daily linen count, then Desmond and Dempsey have the perfect set of pyjamas to bed down in. Luxurious, long-lasting and lovely. That’s the enduring appeal of linen.
