We're not talking about a tan, but about clothes:
Here's what's coming this Saturday, May 1 at 11 a.m. on our e-shop:
- A new linen and cotton t-shirt (French material 🇫🇷) in three colors. Presented today and here by myself
- A new brown color for our wool, linen and silk jacket and joggers . Detailed tomorrow by Benoît
- Three new colors for our Japanese returned satin Bermuda shorts . I'll show them to you on Thursday
In this article, we will talk about flax, pectins and the French textile industry.
Happy reading everyone!
Michael
Our linen and cotton t-shirt
The next generation of French knitwear 🇫🇷
Julien, our collection manager and his product team made up of Charlotte, Sarah and Emilie, set out to develop an improved version of our white cotton and linen t-shirt. Yes, the very first:
To those who were already there in 2016: do the memories come back to you?
And while we were at it, they also wanted to explore new colors, to enrich the palette we offer you. But we will come back to that after having visited their subject.
BonneGueule t-shirt and joggers available this Saturday. Salt Optics glasses and Bleu de Chauffe sandals.
Summer fiber cocktail
You don't change a winning combination. Finally, just a little
The specifications are:
- an airy jersey for the summer,
- which also lends itself to spring outfits,
- with a nice texture, obviously.
As with the predecessor of these t-shirts, Julien and his team then thought of mixing linen and cotton. They also want to take advantage of this to find a more compact and more stable material. And a material made in France.
BonneGueule t-shirt available this Saturday, May 1st. BonneGueule joggers . Salt Optics glasses, Asahi sneakers.
Why this mixture? I'm going to explain it to you and take the opportunity to try to teach you things. When the terraces reopen, you will have some “textile science” anecdotes to tell to show off.
Textile science. That would have been a good subject in college. Anyway, I digress.
69% French linen 🇫🇷
As you probably know, flax is a plant. It is also a fiber contained in its stem from which we obtain a thread.
Linen is very interesting to work with in summer clothes.
It regulates heat
Flax fiber is hollow. It traps or releases air depending on the outside temperature, thus regulating that of your body.
Obviously, since it's a natural material, it also lets air circulate freely and that helps.
A heatstroke? It limits the damage
Without changing its feel, linen can absorb up to 20% of its weight in moisture.
Did you already know that? What if I tell you that it’s thanks to its pectins?
AHA! I'll put you in a bind, eh?
A pectin is a polymer : a macromolecule present on the walls of the flax fiber allowing the creation of hydrogen bonds between them. A hydrogen bond being a molecular bond involving a hydrogen atom. It is therefore thanks to pectins that the fibers hold together.
If flax has this absorption capacity, it is because pectins are hydrophilic. In other words, they are thirsty, very thirsty.
There you go, nothing rocket science. Apart from this reference 🤓.
Oh, also: linen fiber dries quickly.
The friend of your nose
Once the humidity is absorbed, it is quickly evacuated without the linen protecting itself from smelly bacteria. Thanks to this anti-bacterial property, linen retains little bad odors.
What a charmer!
Once knitted, linen has a raw and irregular appearance. It's very discreet, but it gives a little something:
It still has more soul than a plain jersey, right?
What I prefer is his slightly dry hand. I find this texture very interesting.
He has a green thumb
Because it is important, it should be noted that flax cultivation:
- consumes little water. Natural irrigation provided by rain and groundwater is often sufficient.
- produces very little waste, involving a lot of recycling in its production cycle
- is even beneficial for the soil and retains 3.7 tonnes of CO2 per hectare
Furthermore, in terms of employment, a flax field requires five times more labor than growing wheat.
It is for these reasons that institutions such as the European Linen and Hemp Confederation (CELC), Master of Linen and J'aime le Lin promote this fiber so much in the textile industry.
Of course, we are talking about cultivation here and not the subsequent steps, such as dyeing or spinning. For that, it is up to us, as brands, to make the right choices to move towards the best ecological compromise.
BonneGueule t-shirt and Bermuda shorts available this Saturday, May 1st. Salt Optics glasses, Vans sneakers.
A (too) ideal son-in-law?
Alone (and poorly chosen), linen has several downsides:
- it wrinkles a lot,
- he scratches,
- it deforms easily.
So the product team made sure that this didn't happen:
- by choosing suppliers who work with good quality fibers,
- by mixing them with cotton,
- by washing the material.
31% GOTS organic cotton
GOTS certification means that several criteria have been verified through audit and over several processing stages: respect for the environment, traceability of raw materials, consumer health, salary levels, regularity of employment... you can read everything in detail here.
In the case of these t-shirts, the cotton fiber and the dyeing step are GOTS certified.
Not enough to bend a cat
The creases are part of the apparent relaxedness of linen and personally, I think they give it its character. On the other hand, you have to stay within reason and not end up with a rag on you at the end of the day.
Hence the choice of high-end fibers, which break less than poor quality fibers. In the event of creases, they will be more rounded and less stubborn.
Cotton, for its part, shares its natural elasticity with linen. The jersey will therefore regain its shape easily after creasing. Even more so when it is compact like here.
I prepared the t-shirts myself for the shoot with Romane and David, who work with me on this task. We took out the t-shirts which were folded in four in the office cupboard and not much more to report than for a cotton t-shirt.
I promise, we didn't use the green side
Cotton also gives some of its softness. Washing, for its part, finishes the job by softening everything .
For my part, I have already had entry-level 100% linen t-shirts and I must admit that they tingled a little when I put them on. Then I got used to it.
It felt a bit like I was rubbing this against myself.
There, I just tried the prototype at the office. When I put it on, I don't feel any tingling. Obviously, the hand is drier than 100% cotton but that's what gives it its charm and it does n't give me any disturbing sensation.
And of course, the material will continue to soften over time.
Not a move!
Cotton also makes everything more stable over wear and washes. It prevents linen from warping or shrinking too much. There is also the famous washing which stabilizes the jersey and allows us to anticipate major deformations.
We therefore suggest that you simply wash them in the machine at 30 degrees with a slow spin 🙂.
Two to three seasons
Here is the weight of the material: 230gr/m2.
A medium t-shirt thickness and more compact than the previous one. With 31% cotton, this jersey is just as suitable for spring.
Personally, I would put it in layering in the fall without any worries. Even if I have a preference for merino t-shirts this season.
This thickness also helps to limit creasing: all things being equal, the more compact a material is, the less easily it creases.
Knitted (and grown) in France 🇫🇷
Moment of pride
Who says linen, says France. At least, for growing and knitting.
Because good quality linen is mainly found in Europe, and above all... here! And if we are a world leader, it is thanks to the humid oceanic climate, the low thermal density and the quality of the soil, particularly in the north of the country. Natural conditions which have allowed our flax growers to develop excellent know-how.
BonneGueule t-shirt and Bermuda shorts available this Saturday, May 1st. BonneGueule cap and sneakers .
Our team found a small family business in Hauts-de-France: Malterre.
Originally, this family made t-shirts. Since then, she has converted to knitting eco-responsible materials such as organic cotton or recycled polyester.
We are very happy to have been able to knit our t-shirts at this local company.
And the other steps?
We tell you everything
Of course, we couldn't do everything in France from A to Z for these t-shirts. The know-how available, the climates and the potential impact on the price do not allow us to do so. We therefore made the best compromises in our opinion and here is the identity card of this material:
- Malterre brings its GOTS organic cotton from Türkiye and spins it in Greece
- Flax is grown in France, then spun in Poland
- Malterre carries out knitting and dyeing (GOTS certified organic) in France
- Washing and final assembly are done in our specialized workshop in Portugal
BonneGueule t-shirt and Bermuda shorts available this Saturday, May 1st. BonneGueule shirt . Salt Optics glasses, Bleu de Chauffe sandals.
" In France, linen spinning mills for this type of product have disappeared. Some initiatives are emerging to find this know-how locally. We can cite the examples of Velcorex and Emmanuel Lang. There is therefore hope, but this is not the case. "It is not yet for all types of yarn, nor open to all. Today, European spinning mills for this type of yarn are mainly located in European countries such as Lithuania and Poland." - Julien, collection manager
We copied heaven and earth
Colors approved by Mother Nature
In line with our capsule collection which comes out this Saturday, Benoît and Julien wanted to offer you new colors. The idea is to bring variety to the outfits we offer you.
And you probably know our penchant for natural shades. Those which are gentle on the eye, which attract it without boring it. Those that slip smoothly into outfits and that recall the beauty of nature.
The product team was therefore inspired by the colors we see by the sea and which remind us of sunny days.
In addition to white, which is above all a summer essential, we therefore have:
- A sky blue reminiscent of the horizon
- A slightly darkened pink that leans towards earth colors. In the office, we talk about “old pink”, like a pink that has weathered over time.
These are halftones that I find quite subtle. In my opinion, this is the kind of nuance that makes the difference with the brightly colored t-shirts that you find everywhere.
Organic dye
Also GOTS certified
Between the ecological benefits of linen and GOTS organic cotton, Julien and the team wanted to remain consistent in the choice of dyeing method on this piece.
They even tried using a vegetable dye, but the result was not convincing. Taking one step forward on ecology, yes, but taking three steps back on aesthetics, no. That would mean developing an unattractive piece that would not be popular and that would risk being produced for nothing.
They therefore finally entrusted this step to Malterre, who masters ecological dyeing very well. The result was very satisfactory.
Here, the rolls of knitting are therefore dipped in the dye before final assembly in our workshop.
In the shower !
The final touch
Once the piece is dyed, its color is full and uniform. It has great depth, but it lacks something extra.
This is where our famous washing in the workshop comes in, once the t-shirt is assembled.
Because no, it is not only used to stabilize and soften the t-shirt: it also lightens and fades it . Just a little bit.
This is the secret of this half-tone color, this slightly bleached appearance and these small streaks. All this adds extra character, don’t you think?
Let us know what you think in the comments!
See you tomorrow
For the presentation of our wool, linen and silk jacket and joggers by Benoît
How to get our new parts?
Visit our e-shop .
