Joslin’s Linen is certified with European Flax®.
Joslin’s Linen Flax is grown in a wide coastal band of Western Europe stretching from the South of Normandy in Northern France through Belgium and the Netherlands.
From the plant to finished fabrics, all stages of production and transformation are represented, and different professions in the industry work together, from growers and scutchers to spinners, weavers, knitters, finishers, and traders.
Joslin’s European linen cultivation cannot be located elsewhere in the world; its excellence is thanks to a unique combination:
• A natural, damp ocean climate
• Flax’s low thermal density
• Rich soil
• Craftsmen flax growers
The ideal growing environment allows for a large and strong plant, the longer and stronger the fibre, the better the quality of the Linen.
The flax plant is reputably eco-responsible, meaning it requires zero irrigation. Rainwater is enough to grow flax, and it uses little to no artificial interventions.
The fibre is harvested through natural processes, and all other parts of the plant are used to produce but not limited to food, paper, or insulation material. The spinning and weaving process does not significantly impact the environment, and again, all residuals are processed, resulting in zero waste.
Planting: 100 Days of Flax
Planting happens between March 15th and April 15th; the flaxseed takes 100 days to grow and reach 1 meter when it flowers.
Flowering: June
The Linen flower only lives for a few hours, but they do not all bloom on the same day. For a few weeks, this gives the landscape a delicate blue colour, moving like an impressionist sea in the wind.
Harvesting: July
The Linen is not reaped. It is pulled up!
It is pulled up when the leaves have dropped off the bottom third of the stem. The plants are placed in swaths of one-meter-wide linen sheets, which give the field a visual beauty. The capsules holding the seeds take on a brownish-yellow colour.
Retting: August
Mother Nature takes over during the first phase of transforming the plant into fibres.
The flax is retted to enable the separation of fibre from the plant. The plant is left lying on the field for six weeks while nature takes its course. The green stem dries out and turns woody and brown.The exact colour depends on the amount of sun and rain during the retting process.
Scutching:
The second phase for mechanically transforming the plant into fibres is to use the linen fibres surrounding the central wood-like skin; it is necessary to separate them.
Scutching, a specialized mechanical process, includes shelling, stretching, grinding, and threshing.
The sunny, sensual fragrances of cut grass and warm bread float in the air.
Combing:
Combing is the preparation for spinning, a homogenisation of fibres into soft, lustrous ribbons like blond hair.
Spinning:
Spinning is the third phase of transformation from fibre to yarn.
The process is to untangle, regularize, stretch and thread the fibres.
The metric number (Mn) corresponds to the number of kilometres of yarn made from 1 kilogram of fibre. The higher the figure, the thinner the thread.
- Mn1,8 is the figure for furniture fabric.
- Mn90 for an extremely fine handkerchief.
- Mn26 is standard for clothing.
Joslin's cooperating European Flax® farms, combers and spinners are located in Normandy, France and Hyon, Belgium.
Weaving:
Weaving the spun flax yarn is dependent on what the fabric will be used for. Linen is developed in serge, herringbone, glen plaids, double-weaves, velvet, floating yarns, gauze and satin.
Joslin's Linen is woven into traditional Batiste Cloth and Canvas Cloth.
Joslin's cooperating European Flax® mills are located in Tongling, Anhui, China and Wuijiang & Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Finishing & Dying:
Finishing the Linen includes treatments designed to change the appearance of the yarn or linen fabrics for comfort, aesthetics, functionality; bleaching, dyeing, printing, and finishing.
All of Joslin's manufacturers and dye-houses ensure yearly certification of OEKO-TEX® 100 STANDARD, meaning no harmful chemicals are used during the dying process, ensuring customer confidence, high product safety, and healthier waterways.
OEKO-TEX® undertakes extensive product checks and regular company on-site visits with factories worldwide to ensure that the industry has a globally sustainable awareness of the responsible use of chemicals.
PRE-FALL '23 | HERITAGE
JOSLIN LINEN BATISTE.
Joslin offers linen certified with European Flax®. Our mills have this certification, ensuring sustainable production with zero irrigation, GMO, and waste. We comply with ILO standards and trace our linen from field to fibre. Sourced from Normandy and Belgium, our linen supports biodiversity. It is spun and woven in a mill in China and is eco-friendly, durable, and stylish.