April 30, 2025
From 3 May to 8 June 2025, the Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp will be at the BHV for an immersive and a spectacular event celebrating European Flax-Linen, a sustainable and premium fibre recognised the world over.
For its sixth collaboration with BHV, the Alliance for European Flax-Linen is taking a new step by becoming the exclusive partner of the Parisian department store for a spectacular event: Les Grands Gestes du Lin (The Grand Gestures of Flax).
This unprecedented celebration offers a complete experience ranging from XXL plant sculptures to a selection of nearly 100 brands and 900 flax-linen products in the worlds of fashion, accessories and home décor.
As a large-scale operation, Les Grands Gestes du Lin aims to raise awareness about the unique richness of European Flax-Linen. Each day, it promises to invite an audience of nearly 25,000 people, composed of Parisians, French visitors and international tourists, to discover the heritage, craftsmanship, modernity and incredible creative potential of this natural fibre.
An immersive journey showcases the naturalness and creativity of flax-linen as a resource! A monumental scenography that highlights the primary, untransformed forms of flax, photo shoots in fields and in a Norman scutching mill, and participating fashion and lifestyle brands...
"With BHV, the Alliance continues the dialogue with consumers."Marie-Emmanuelle Belzung, General Delegate of the Alliance
Conceived by Medy Ty, BHV's new artistic director, the Les Grands Gestes du Lin event was designed as a true manifesto celebrating the nobility of European Flax-Linen by intimately blending art and material.
From the store entrance, visitors are greeted by spectacular installations that immediately set the tone for the event:
This fusion between art and fashion also unfolds throughout the window displays, each revealing its own scenography. In one, flax sheets form an immense dune with small steles where a multitude of objects are placed, revealing the incredible creative potential of flax.
For the event's communication campaign, BHV teams went to the Flax-Linen fields of Normandy and the factories of the Coopérative de teillage du plateau du Neubourg, where the first stage of transforming straw into fibre, called scutching, takes place..
Images and videos from this 100% Flax-Linen campaign will be presented on the BHV façade on Rue de Rivoli, on screens placed throughout the store, and visible on social media. This showcases fashion in the places where it is created and transformed: at the very heart of nature.
Flax-Linen offers infinite possibilities and constitutes a formidable playground.
Medy Ty, Artistic Director of BHV
The event unfolds along an experiential journey to be discovered throughout the department store:
Throughout the floors, visitors can discover the full creative richness of the material with brands offering flax in their collections.
In total, more than 100 brands and 900 products demonstrate the richness of flax, a source of inspiration for all designers.
Our ambition? To create surprise, to give Parisians and all our customers an experience. To make them feel an emotion, for the material and our artistic gesture."
Valérie Chaleyssin, Marketing Director of BHV
Used for millennia, Flax-Linen has traversed human history by constantly reinventing itself. Its legendary resistance even earned it a place in Alexander the Great's armour - the linothorax. Today more than ever in demand, European Flax-Linen meets the societal and environmental requirements of consumers keen to promote local and sustainable production.
European Flax-Linen is currently experiencing unprecedented enthusiasm among fashion designers, interior architects and designers. A recent study conducted by the trend search engine Tagwalk, based on the 60 most influential brands in the market, reveals that Flax-Linen:
Flax is cultivated in Western Europe on a coastal strip extending from southern Normandy to northern Netherlands. Its exceptional quality results from the unique combination of a naturally humid oceanic climate, generous soils, and the historical expertise of European flax growers.
Europe today represents 3/4 of global scutched Flax-Linen fibre production, with France as the world leader.
The economy of Flax-Linen cultivation cannot be relocated. It stimulates local agricultural and industrial employment, respecting International Labour Organisation standards.
European Flax-Linen is a sustainable, terroir-based crop:
The Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp created two certifications to guarantee the origin and traceability of European Flax-Linen:
The Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp continues to stimulate innovation through new strategic initiatives to support sustainable transition in the fashion and lifestyle universe. It has paved the way by ensuring scientific validation of the intrinsic functional properties of Flax-Linen and implementing certifications for traceability and origin.
The Flax-Linen industry undergone extraordinary transformation and development over the past 15 years:
The sustainability and success of the industry rest on three fundamentals: its demand for quality, its creative dynamism, and the sustainable properties of its fibres.
Our objective? To raise awareness about the exceptional expertise of European flax, its creativity, and to highlight its environmental properties to accelerate a necessary collective awareness.
Chantal Malingrey, Marketing and Communications Director of the Alliance
Since 2016, the Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp and BHV developed a solid partnership through six themed operations:
Les Grands Gestes du Lin, an exclusive event celebrating European Flax-Linen,
from 3rd May to 8th June at the heart of BHV,
52 rue du Rivoli - 75004 Paris
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