Linen has become a genuine brand fixture at Celio

June 05, 2026

Fashion

At Celio, certified European linen embodies quality, comfort and durability. Through its “Lincroyable” campaign and partnership with the Alliance, the brand champions a fabric that is desirable, accessible and responsibly sourced. We spoke with David Hermelin, Brand Director at Celio.

Celio - Man and Woman European Linen looks — © Celio

For Celio, linen has become much more than a summer fabric: it is a true field of expression. Natural, comfortable, grown locally in Western Europe and certified Masters of FLAX FIBRE™, European linen fits fully within the brand’s strategy: to offer everyday essentials that are well designed, pleasant to wear and made to last.

With its key moment, “Lincroyable”, rolled out in stores and online, Celio has made linen a major feature of its collections, from May to September. David Hermelin, Brand Director, talks about the place of this fibre in Celio’s identity, the role of certification and the contribution of the partnership with the Alliance.

David Hermelin - Celio, le Lin un rendez-vous marque Celio

David Hermelin : I am Brand Director at Celio, for both menswear and womenswear. My remit covers product, design, collection content, marketing, communications, social media, as well as product education and operational marketing.

I also work closely with Sébastien Bismuth, Chairman of Celio, on the brand’s strategy and vision.

What place do materials occupy in Celio’s identity and desirability?

When I joined Celio five years ago, the idea was to bring common sense back into the brand. That is what we expressed through our slogan: “Celio Be Normal”.

We started from a very simple observation: the vast majority of men do not dress first and foremost to follow fashion, but to get kitted out. That allowed us to break away from a trend-led logic and express what makes up Celio’s DNA: good products, well made, comfortable, in beautiful materials, and designed to last.

We like to say that Celio is a bit like “the art of normal”: precision in the product, the right cut, the right fabric, the right detail. We are not operating within a fast-fashion logic. We are more like everyday outfitters.

You describe yourselves as “outfitters”?

Outfitters, absolutely! You can see it, in fact, because now that we offer womenswear, we are applying the same strategy: making everyday essentials, well made, built to stand the test of time, but with two different ways of consuming. We also offer womenswear basics that can go with at least two, three, or even four other pieces in the collection.

The saying is that, for men, we sell the useful, and for women, we try to sell the pleasurable.

What does this notion of an “outfitter” mean for Celio?

It is central. We offer everyday essentials that are well designed and accompany customers over time. That is true for men, but now also for women, with the same standards.

For men, one often observes a collection logic: when a customer finds a product he likes, he tends to buy it in several colours. For women, the logic is more about assembling an outfit: one piece should be able to combine easily with several other items in the wardrobe.

In both cases, our role is to offer clothing that is useful, appealing, easy to wear and thoughtfully designed.

When did certified European linen establish itself as a relevant fabric for Celio?

Within this common-sense approach, product lifespan is essential. So we reintroduced more natural materials into our collections: cotton, wool and, of course, linen.

Linen emerged quite naturally. It is a fabric that is perfectly suited to summer: it is comfortable, breathable, pleasant to wear and has very interesting properties for the consumer. It also responds to a broader societal trend around natural fibres.

At Celio, we wanted to make linen a real fabric-focused event. It is our major key moment from May to September. And it is an elevating material, not least because we work with European-origin linen (France, Belgium, the Netherlands) and a natural fibre whose quality and traceability are essential.

Linen emerged quite naturally. It is a fabric that is perfectly suited to summer [...] It also responds to a broader societal trend around natural fibres.

How do you work with linen in your collections?

We mainly have two lines: 100% linen, which represents the largest share, and linen-cotton blends. That means we stay with natural materials. For womenswear, we also offer linen-viscose, which makes it possible to create softer, more fluid silhouettes.

The challenge is always the same: to offer products that are comfortable, well made, easy to wear and suited to everyday use.

How do you make this linen collection desirable?

We work with fairly neutral products, but with a great deal of precision. That is where our difference lies: in the weight of the fabric, the cut, the topstitching, the button, the well-placed pocket, the elasticated waistband on a pair of trousers, the comfort when worn.

We want to create clothes that are easy to live with. Celio’s customer base is broad, so we are not trying to make linen a spectacular or overly fashionable product. On the other hand, we do evolve the shapes and details. Over the last two or three seasons, for example, we have introduced looser cuts, several bermuda styles and even stripes.

So there is a degree of playfulness, but always in an accessible register. The aim is for products to be kept for a long time, worn again, and complemented from one season to the next.

How do you help dismantle preconceived ideas about linen?

We have made linen a product moment in its own right. It is a major time of year for Celio, a kind of opening towards summer.

In stores, this translates into a very recognisable world: natural colours, earthy tones and, for women, a few brighter shades. The store then becomes a medium. It tells the story of the material, its origin, its comfort and its use.

All this communication is part of our “Lincroyable” campaign, which gives linen genuine visibility, both in stores and on our website.

We have made linen a product moment in its own right. It is a major time of year for Celio, a kind of opening towards summer.

What narrative do you build around the fabric?

This year, we have strengthened product education. We want to explain more clearly the journey of linen, from the harvest to the finished product, including the origin of the European fibres we use in our shirts, trousers and across our range.

The point is to show that linen is not just a pleasant fabric to wear. It is also a fibre with an origin, expertise, traceability and quality that we want to make legible for our customers.

Is the choice of certified European linen a strong marker for Celio?

Yes, absolutely. Beyond the CSR aspect, certification strengthens the quality and credibility of our message.

We apply the same logic to other natural materials, such as RWS-certified wool or down. Whenever possible, we seek to support our message with a label or certification that provides objective proof of what we say.

For our “Lincroyable” campaign, the Masters of FLAX FIBRE™ label is particularly important. It guarantees European provenance and lends legitimacy to our approach. For us, it is an obvious choice.

What does the partnership with the Alliance bring?

The partnership with the Alliance strengthens our message and gives us real credibility in the linen space.

We did not want to be content with simply offering a linen collection. We wanted to go further: to explain the fabric, tell its story, highlight its quality and reassure our customers. Working with certified linen and with the support of the Alliance allows us to build that story in a robust and coherent way.

How do you see the future of linen at Celio?

Linen is already a strong fixture at Celio, and we want it to remain so over time. It is a key moment that starts in May and runs through to the beginning of September, because we continue to sell linen quite late into the season.

We will continue this work while also exploring new directions. For example, we are looking at developments around technical linen, stretch linen or less crease-prone linens, even though, in my view, the creased look is also part of linen’s charm.

The idea is to keep enriching this fabric through new blends, new comfort features and new details, without losing what makes it unique.

With “Lincroyable”, Celio confirms the place of certified European linen as a pillar of its summer collections. By combining comfort, traceability, naturalness and education, the brand makes this fibre an accessible marker of quality, in line with its vision of everyday essentials: products that are right, well designed and made to last.

Linen has become a genuine brand fixture at Celio

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