By Manish Puri.
I’m in a automotive with Nathan Hellard – the founding father of French linen service provider Maison Hellard – and we’re kindly being chauffeured by Nathan’s father, Philippe, from Pau to the commune of Assat, the place the corporate is predicated.
It’s a sizzling day, however the air con gives some reduction. As we chat concerning the imminent arrival of the Olympic flame in Pau, en path to Paris, Nathan begins to shift uncomfortably.
He turns to his father and asks in French, “Did you place my automotive seat hotter on?” Philippe begins to chortle uncontrollably on the success of his prank.
What does this need to do with linen? Completely nothing besides, maybe, to function a reminder of one of many less-acknowledged causes we spend a lot time, cash and vitality on high quality clothes: connections.
None of us enjoys feeling just like the final hyperlink in a provide chain: a unit of consumption as mechanical and relentless because the meeting traces that churn out the products. We’re worldly sufficient to know that that is the best way it’s, however that doesn’t imply we do not lengthy for one thing higher.
Think about a enterprise the place the founder (in between designing fabric and replying to emails) pulls heavy rolls of linen down from the attractive wood cabinets that his father (in between cracking Dad-jokes) made by hand. As soon as set down on the desk, his mom (Michèle) inspects, presses and cuts the material to order. Now think about your relationship with a jacket made out of that fabric. Their maison and yours are linked.
Nathan’s path to founding Maison Hellard started (after serving within the French military and dealing for Airbus) at Zegna, earlier than a transfer to Scabal was minimize brief by the pandemic. Nonetheless his time at these manufacturers was sufficient to persuade him that his future lay in his personal fabric enterprise. The query was, what fabric?
Whereas Nathan had lived in Paris and Asia, most of his life was spent across the southwest of France. “There are many farmers on this area,” he instructed me, “and I wished to honour that by making one thing utilizing French growers. Ultimately, we settled on Normandy linen.”
To assist guarantee they supply the very best high quality linen and assist native growers, Maison Hellard have partnered with Terre de Lin – a co-operative that represents over 600 farmers within the area.
Their linen is dyed and woven in Italy. It’s usually stated that Italians have a penchant for bolder, stronger colors in the case of linen (heck, if English summers had been as routinely sun-drenched as Italian ones, I’d too). However Nathan’s desire is for softer, subtler shades – he makes use of the phrase “muted” quite a bit by means of our conversations.
Maybe it’s the six years he spent within the army or his fondness for strolling his chocolate-brown cocker spaniel Vaillant (the unofficial mascot of the enterprise) within the French countryside, however the Maison Hellard cabinets are full of military greens, costume uniform blues and earthy browns.
How that is achieved is considered one of Nathan’s proudest accomplishments, and I believe the important thing factor that units Maison Hellard aside. Relatively than depend on the usual colors supplied by most Italian spinners, every of the Maison Hellard yarns is dyed to their very own colors that are unique to them.
Their selection of colors – a pattern of which might be seen on the pinboard above – is slender when in comparison with the gatefold-brochures of business color charts, but it surely’s rigorously outlined and establishes an actual lingua franca. In my opinion, it is what makes Maison Hellard’s vary of linens – plain or patterned – so tasteful.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel right here – finally we’re simply laying one yarn on high of one other,” Nathan notes with attribute understatement. However with such stunning supply supplies, you’ll be able to see how beautiful the probabilities are – we spend the following quarter-hour crisscrossing totally different yarns to a refrain of “oohs” and “ahs”.
The board additionally permits Nathan as an example considered one of his latest developments: two-ply linen (a yarn the place two single strands are twisted collectively). Whereas multi-ply linen is out there available on the market it is usually piece-dyed, so the entire material is dyed after it has been woven. The Maison Hellard two-ply is yarn-dyed, which permits threads of two totally different colors to be twisted collectively.
Evaluate these comparable colored linens from Maison Hellard’s assortment – Provence (above left) and Horizon (above proper). They don’t seem to be instantly comparable, given the Provence is a plain weave and the Horizon is a twill, however the two-ply of the latter does assist present the additional physique and visible curiosity that this yarn can provide.
A yarn-dyed two-ply additionally makes it potential to make patterned fabric out of yarns which have already got some actually attention-grabbing issues happening. It means a fundamental two-colour verify sample might consist of 4 totally different colored particular person strands – simply think about the depth and number of colors that could possibly be woven right into a extra advanced design.
Different Maison Hellard cloths that caught my eye had been the linen, cashmere and silk blends with a delicate sheen from the silk, and a luxuriously comfortable deal with from the cashmere allied with the feel of linen. I additionally actually favored their 18oz linen denim, woven in Osaka and obtainable in jet black, pure and indigo – the latter of which I not too long ago noticed made up as a crisp jean jacket by Whitcomb & Shaftesbury (beneath).
It’s clear that Nathan relishes experimenting with totally different cloths, creating collections and reviving previous designs. “We’re too small to not take dangers,” he says. The diminutiveness of the enterprise has one other profit: unburdened by fabric brokers, advertising and marketing and different intermediaries, they’ll rapidly produce small runs of fabric when inspiration strikes – one thing I’ve noticed first hand.
Earlier this yr, I occurred to be in Taillour’s atelier on the similar time that Nathan was visiting. Whereas looking their inventory of classic fabric, he turned enamoured with a Nineteen Seventies tweed – a biscuit Prince of Wales verify that Fred’s enterprise accomplice Lee had present in a dusty fabric store in Portugal – and took just a few photographs of it for reference.
The following time I used to be in Taillour, only a few months later, I seen a well-known wanting, freshly-delivered bolt of fabric on the desk. It turned out that Nathan, impressed by the tweed, had designed an analogous model in 100% linen (beneath). It’s now obtainable solely at Taillour and is known as ‘Peck’s Yard’ after the East London avenue the place their atelier is positioned.
Lastly, as regards to Taillour, I promised readers that I might save my ideas on how my summer time double-breasted go well with, made out of a Maison Hellard ivory 12/13oz linen (beneath), fared for this text.
I’ve by no means commissioned something in Italian linen, which Maison Hellard is perhaps closest to, however of the linens I’ve tried I’ve discovered Irish linen to be crisp and dry; Solbiati’s ‘Artwork Du Lin’ to have a matte, virtually suede-like end; and the Maison Hellard linen a pleasingly comfortable, virtually brushed deal with.
The fabric is a twill and, in my expertise and all different issues being equal, these usually drape higher than a plain weave. Stains also can seem much less outstanding on the ridged floor – a useful property in such a light-weight colored fabric.
I’ve been lucky sufficient to attend the summer time version of Pitti Uomo (the place the photographs beneath had been taken) just a few occasions now – sporting tropical wool, seersucker and Irish linen alongside the best way – and essentially the most comfy I’ve felt in these sweltering Florentine days and nights was sporting the Maison Hellard linen.
Now, earlier than we alert the media about my findings, I ought to acknowledge that this isn’t precisely a scientific comparability – Fred’s relaxed minimize is a contributory issue right here too – however, even so, I’ve no compunctions telling those that this linen wears pretty cool.
I’ve additionally been impressed with how the material holds up over the course of a day. It holds a crease pretty nicely and whereas it does accumulate extra rumples than Irish linen, they are typically softer and barely faster to fall out after being hung. The jacket holds up higher than the trousers, however present me a fabric the place the reverse is true.
In the end, you’ll be able to decide its efficiency for your self from the photographs. The primary one (the place I’m sitting subsequent to Nathan) was taken round lunchtime, and the second taken within the night – after 10 hours of wear and tear and 15,000 steps in 27 levels celsius climate.
I’d characterise Maison Hellard fabric because the romantic’s selection. Those that are already unimpressed by linen’s nonchalance are unlikely to be gained over by Maison Hellard (to these naysayers, might I counsel tropical wool?), however those that adore linen and embrace it with out reservation or concern of crumpling will discover quite a bit to like right here. In fact, romantics lengthy for companions, and in Taillour’s relaxed and breezy minimize I believe the linen discovered an excellent companion.
Manish is @the_daily_mirror on Instagram
