VOGUE X UNIQLO: FOR THE LOVE OF LINEN

For the love of linen, I will tolerate wrinkles, ironing and yes, that slightly rumpled appearance. I have always loved the subtle sheen of this natural fiber and how it feels so refreshing and light against my skin.

- VICKY VELOSO-BARRERA

Linen quickly brings to my mind the season of spring in Italy, and seeing those very chic Italians in their linen outfits — creased, of course, in all the right places. But those wrinkles are the bragging rights of linen, a fabric Europeans know how to appreciate. Italian fashion designers have always put a big premium on this material.

Linen clothes, like flowers, herald the arrival of spring and summer. Made from the flowering flax plant, which yields fibers producing a smooth and luxurious sheen, linen is at once an extravagance and a practicality. This natural fiber breathes and is perfect in the perpetual heat of the tropics.

Linen is an ancient fiber, and was prized in Egypt as far back as 3000 BC. Back then, only the Egyptians knew how this precious fabric was loomed. The Phoenicians even paid for the sturdy linen that they used for the sailcloth of their ships with gemstones. Through these traders, the fabric made its way to Greece, then to Rome and the rest of Europe.

The best linen is, in fact, sourced from Europe, especially from France, Belgium and the Netherlands whose coastlines provide the damp atmosphere the flax plant likes. Since the plant requires no irrigation, its cultivation is easy and sustainable.

Seeds are sown in the spring and a hundred days later the flowers bloom for just a day. The plants are then pulled up and left to ferment in the fields before they are processed to separate the longer from the shorter fibers.