The flax plant is what is used to made linen. It is very difficult to manufacture and it worth a lot to the clothing industry as whole. Linen has many positive qualities for one it is light and airy so makes it an ideal material to be worn in the summer months.

 

Linen has been traditionally used in clothing and is completely different from modern day Billabong, Zoo York & Animal Clothing.

 

Not many people realise quite how long the history of linen actually is. It all started four centuries before Christ when nearly all people were able to grow the own flax. They would take the fibers and weave them into wonderful garments for their family to wear. 4000 years ago was when it is believed that the first linen industry was active this took place in the ancient cities of Egypt.

 

For the Egyptians linen conveyed status and wealth. In fact it was here that linen started to be used on tables, first amongst the wealth but soon spreading to the entire Egyptian community.

 

The popularity of linen for use on furniture spread to the rest of the world and is nowadays available in a multitude of different styles. This was when linen started to become recognized as a clothing material as well. It would take the skill of a fine tailor to make the garments from linen but the result was an elegant and durable piece of clothing.

 

It was the rigidness and durability of linen that made it so popular for use in clothing and it is only recently that cotton has been used in place of linen for clothing manufacture.

 

Linen is also used as a canvas for artists. Using linen as the canvas for oil paintings has been known to add some extra quality in the areas of texture and lighting to the paintings.

 

Linen has many uses besides clothing and tableware including weaving, treatments and wallpapers.