SHAGGY FIBRE

What’s this, you ask? We were wondering as well. The strangest space at Maison & Objet was also the most… fragrant. Looking and smelling like a wet sheep, visitors were welcome to penetrate its interior. With a certain amount of trepidation, we parted the shaggy fibres at the door and entered the world of … linen. Who would have thought that a vegetal fibre could appear so animal?

Designed by François Azambourg for the European Linen and Hemp Confederation, the “Linen Matrix”, as he calls it, is composed of 1 ton of flax (the raw material for making linen). Linen is an amazing material: it preserves the soil, stocks CO2, protects biodiversity, and does not harm the environment when transformed into textile and other materials that are 100% biodegradable. Linen can be transformed into fabric, “plastic”, “paper”, “wool” and many other incredible incarnations. Unfortunately, the exhibition inside the matrix, demonstrating the different applications for linen, was not as visually powerful, though the possibilities are endless. Here is a closeup of the marvelous raw material: