Our Love of Linen

A Woman holding dried flax bundled up

Australian Linen Clothing label, Metta Melbourne, has become well known for premium linen womenswear, which begun in 2007.
Yet, the journey and love of linen began well before '07, when the Metta founders were merchants of high quality natural fibers, including linen. Designing clothing was a natural progression from trading in textile as they had access to some of the worlds best linens and wanted to create easy to wear pieces that were, at the time, incredibly hard to find.

Linen, which is technically a vegetable, is made from the cellulose fibers that grow inside of the stalks of the flax plant, or Linum usitatissimum, one of the strongest fibers available today and oldest cultivated plants in human history, dating back to at least 36,000 years BC. Due to its hardwearing and biodegradable qualities, linen is favoured by many for having a lower impact on the environment than other materials.  

It is naturally breathable, anti-bacterial, anti-allergenic, and biodegradable. It is both humidity and heat-friendly, yet thermo-regulating and easy to take care of. We love that it softens with time and reveals its natural qualities through gorgeous textures and wrinkles with wear.

  

The flax plant can be grown without the use of watering or artificial fertilisers. When the field is done blooming, the stalks ripen and dry on the field before being processed into a thread that maintains a slight unevenness giving the fabric the lively natural expression we have fallen in love with.

All of our linen is sourced from Europe, known for their ideal flax growing climate. Our linen is 100% OEKO-TEX 100 certified, GOTS certified organic and EU certified. 
Flax farming throughout Europe has a long history, with over 5,000 farms producing high quality and traditionally grown flax linen.

This spun flax is then sent to our ethical, fair trade makers in Lithuania who then weave up our desired weights, thickness and patterns to create our in-house designed garments to perfection.

Your linen garment will arrive pre-shrunk and ready to wear. Linen has a gains a beautiful patina over time with each and every wear.
After washing, linen feels as though it has come back to life, and is ready to begin a new day with you. A light tumble dry will bring out the softness again, however if you prefer to line dry your garment, simply wearing it will soften up your linen once again as it can feel stiffer when line dried.

It is best washed inside-out to prevent the surface fibres from being worn down over time. Wash at 30 degrees or on a cool setting and hang to dry, preferably not in direct sunlight. If you choose to use your trusty iron, avoid pressing around the creases and seams, as this can weaken the fabric and if it is too hot, can even scorch the linen fibres. We prefer a light steam over an iron as then you can still have soft wrinkles throughout your garment.

If you'd like to know more about caring for your Metta garment, we have a fabric care page, with more care tips for your Metta Melbourne garments.