Henrike Gootjes​
Regeneration Strategist, Artist - Educator

Welcome at the DDW

We are presenting Linen as Regnerative Fabric of our Bioregion at NoOF!

As you know I have been a passionate Linnen-Steward, (initiated by the Linnenproject) in the last few years. Growing our own local flax with a group op fellow linnenstewards. This week you an find me at the Dutch Design Week in EIndhoven for a two day pop-up presentation. 

The flax plant grows without the need for irrigation, pesticides or fertilisers. It stores CO2, enriches biodiversity, improves soil health and contains the fibres for making a long-lasting textile: linen. The negative impact of fossil-based clothing is evident in many areas. Flax cultivation and linen production offer an opportunity for change towards a more regenerative and innovative future of textiles.

New Order of Fashion invited The Linen Project members, Anna Wetzel, a design-researcher specialising in spinning flax and Henrike Gootjes, a regenerative strategist and Linen Steward, to organise a pop-up exhibition. It showcases the various stages of flax from seed to linen garments. A major challenge lies in spinning the yarn, which depending on the purpose and scale, can be done by hand or machine. Spinning flax on the open-source spinning machine HILO could be part of solving the problem. Within The Linen Stewards, craftsmanship and innovation is vibrantly present and continually emerging, resulting in future-proof garments that can be cherished for a long time and eventually return to the earth to nourish the next generation of flax plants.

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The Pop-Up presentation is at the New Order of Fashion, Torenallee 22

Monday 23 and tuesday 24 from 11.00-18.00 h.

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More about The Linen Project: 

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The Linen Project strives to reinvigorate local flax cultivation and linen production in the Netherlands through various initiatives. With the Linen Kavels (Dutch for linen plots), The Linen Project brings together partners on the industrial scale to weave locally grown flax into local linen. The ‘Linen Stewards’ is a group of self-organised individuals, collectively tending to a flax field, following the path of turning linseed into linen. Looking ahead, The Linen Project is establishing a new initiative: “Grow-Your-Own 1m²” of flax, in order to foster a deep connection to this regenerative, sustainable and local textile.

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