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Flax was traditionally grown as a crop in the Netherlands, and Dutch linen was one of the most sought-after for a long time because of its good quality. Today that is no longer the case. Therefore, in 2018, Crafts Council Nederland, in cooperation with the Fashion Design Master of ArtEZ University, initiated ‘The Linen Project’ to revive the economic viability of local flax cultivation and linen production in the Netherlands, while transforming it in a sustainable way.
The Linen Project aims to change and challenge thinking in a multidisciplinary way across fields and sectors – agriculture, history, heritage, (landscape) architecture, fashion, food, crafts, design, contemporary art, economics, innovative business. After all, the whole world is changing. On the one hand, people are more digitally connected to each other than ever before. But at the same time, there is a growing interest in connecting to the products we use and consume every day and how they are made. How and where are our roots? How can we reconnect with deep human values and ancient knowledge and skills? The Linen Project explores the tradition of linen production in the Netherlands and drives the exchange of different values, knowledge, skills and competences across industry boundaries.
Learning by doing is the motto of the project: prototypes of new economic, social and cultural ecosystems are created in a dynamic environment, demonstrating the vital importance of (biological) diversity. The production process involves only four steps – the flax from 2019, for example, was grown on the Lingehof near Arnhem (NL), mechanically processed by Van de Bilt Zaden en Vlas in Sluiskil (NL), spun in Poland and woven into linen by Enschede Textielstad in Enschede (NL). In the process, “old” knowledge meets new technologies, so that future production is based on and builds on a restored connection between people and nature.
»The Linen Project is our collaborative effort to understand the making of local textiles and experience the beauty of it. This is a shared journey where we, learning by doing, rediscover our relationship with nature and each other.«
Willemien Ippel, Mitbegründerin Handwerk Rat Nederland
Modularity is not a new concept. For decades, it has shaped architecture, furniture and industrial design. Applying it to soft textiles, however, opens up an entirely new discussion.
Creativity and curiosity have always been our driving force. Our work evolves through prototypes—never finished, always raising new questions about materials, processes, and possibilities.
Both the fashion and textile industry often celebrates creativity. Yet many of the industry’s creative decisions are made long before a designer ever begins designing. Colour being one of them. The thing is, by the time a designer selects yarn, someone else has already determined the available colours, sequences and combinations. Choice exists, but only within boundaries.
“Through hands-on experimentation, I explore the potential of new surfaces and alternative forms of leather, aiming to reconnect human life with the natural world as an interconnected fabric.”
