Karin Carlander holds a Masters of Linen certification, awarded to spinners, weavers and knitters who have committed to only use 100% European traceability linen from the sown seed to the final fabric. Her textiles are woven of linen spun from flax, which is naturally grown and retted on the ground in fields stretching from Caen in France, through Belgium to Amsterdam, where the water requirement is met entirely by rainfall. ‘Analysis of the life cycle of a linen shirt and a cotton shirt shows that the environmental impact of a cotton shirt is up to seven times that of a linen shirt,’ says Carlander. ‘Linen is the only vegetable fibre used in the textile industry that is native to Europe and it is the oldest known textile developed by man,’ she explains. ‘If we were better informed about the materials we use every day, we would be able to make better choices when we buy our clothes. But for me, it is also important that my textiles have roots in nature and in the culture I come from.’ Using linen, Carlander weaves objects that reinterpret traditional Nordic crafts for everyday use, ‘I work with functional textiles, because I think that the objects we handle in connection with everyday chores and activities should hold artistic value’.

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