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As you can probably tell, Raw Luxury has a love for all things linen!

Linen is a natural fibre that is made from the flax plant.

• It is extremely durable
• It is fully biodegradable
• Breathable
• Hypoallergenic
• It requires significantly less water and chemicals to be cultivated, making it an environmentally friendly fabric.

One of my favourite things about linen is its understated beauty.

Linen is right on trend at the moment, but it is important to know that not all linen is created equal.

The best quality linen comes from Europe, in countries such as France, Belgium, and Lithuania.

Although all linen comes from the flax plant, there are many factors that influence the quality of the final fabric: Where the flax plant is grown, the length of the fibres used, the weaving techniques, and the type of finish that is used.

Raw Luxury sources the best quality linen for all our garments. Our linen is produced in small batches in Eastern Europe where there is a strong heritage of spinning and weaving linen fabric. It is then laundered and tumbled at the mill to produce a beautiful soft feel with a vintage aesthetic.

All our linen fabric is Oeko-Tex Certified, this means there are no nasties used in the production of our beautiful linen fabric, making it better for the environment and ensuring it is gentle on your skin.

The next time you are considering purchasing a linen garment or even linen bedsheets, it may be worth asking the questions – “Where was the linen grown, woven, and finished?” & “Is it Oeko-Tex certified?”

Living in the inner city suburbs of Sydney, I’m spoilt for choice when it comes to options for organic produce. Organic fruit and vegetables, organic meat, organic dairy products, organic breads; the list goes on. We as a society put a lot of thought into what we put into our bodies, and rightly so.

However, have you ever thought about “organic” in relation to the clothes you wear? Have you considered that what you wear may also have an impact on your health?

Skin is your body's largest organ and the primary organ for absorption, therefore the clothes you wear, your favourite underwear, those soft sheets you sleep on every night, the fluffy towels you use on a daily basis, do impact your health & should be considered carefully.

Stop for a minute & think about the clothes you are wearing right now.

• Do you know what fabric your clothes are made from?
• Do you know what chemicals were used in the manufacturing of this fabric?
• Are your clothes made from synthetic or natural fibres? If natural, how were the natural fibres grown & by whom?

You may falsely believe that if your clothing is made from a natural fibre such as cotton, then it is automatically healthy for you & the environment in which it is grown. This is not necessarily true, and certainly not the case for conventionally grown cotton.

Conventionally grown cotton (the bad news)

Conventionally grown cotton (i.e. non-organic cotton) accounts for 2.5% of farmland worldwide, yet it is responsible for 10% of the world’s entire pesticide use and a huge 25% of the world’s insecticide use. It is in fact considered the world’s most environmentally unfriendly crop.

Pesticides (including insecticides, herbicides & fungicides) have a devastating effect on the health of cotton farmers & workers, and on the environment.

Who is Raw Luxury?

I thought it was only fitting to use this first post to let our customers know exactly who Raw Luxury is and what our label stands for.

Raw Luxury is an Australian clothing label started by myself, Alissa Nichles. 

My childhood years were filled with memories of fabrics being rolled out across our carpeted dining room floor and paper patterns being placed carefully on top. Using her beloved fabric scissors, my mum would cut out the fabric pieces and sew for hours on her even more beloved Singer sewing machine (which she still uses to this day)! She has created many much loved items of clothing over the years, each of which have a certain sentimental value. Thinking back to these times I can still distinctly hear the strangely soothing sound of the scissors cutting through the fabrics and the gentle hum of the sewing machine stopping and starting over and over again.

I also have many vivid memories of visiting my mum's favourite fabric store in Surry Hills, Sydney. As she would browse through the patterns and the fabrics, my brother and I would overindulge in the lollies left on the front counter for the customers to enjoy. We would then wander mischeiviously amongst the many tables and walls that held, what seemed to be at the time, "giant" rolls of fabric. These childhood memories were my introduction to the world of fabrics and sewing.