High Fashion Linen Living with Whitney Linen

Whitney Linen brings City Chic to FASHIONCAN

One of the highlights of this year’s FASHIONCAN presentation sponsored by The Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards (CAFA) and MAC Cosmetics at Yorkdale was Whitney Linen.

Whitney Linen’s city chic, pre fall 2017 collection, co-designed by Franciska Veress, is centred on an autumnal palette of burgundy, black, and beige linen, tweeds through boucle, and accented with fringe and leather trim.

Toronto-based Whitney Linen was founded by former model Whitney Westwood. The brand is known for its innovative perspective on a traditional fabric. Westwood creates her designs exclusively with linen and linen blends using innovative designs to reshape the world’s oldest and most luxurious fabric into contemporary essentials. Adhering to ethical and sustainable practices is an integral part of its DNA; linen is one of the most environmentally friendly fabrics in the world and the entire Whitney Linen collection is manufactured in Canada.

Raised by a Montreal-born publishing magnate and a Toronto socialite, Whitney learned style at home. The Westwood’s brought Hermes to Canada—opening the French label’s first national address in Toronto’s tony Hazelton Lanes in the ‘80s—and summered at their villa in the South of France.

Inspired by her coastal upbringing, Whitney Linen started with lines for spring and summer – perfect beach cover-ups, casual everyday styles, and evening pieces were done in a neutral palette of black, white, and beige.

“I was always captivated by the relaxed everyday chic of the Cote D’Azur. Casual and off-the-cuff, yet effortlessly stylish,” says Whitney. “That attitude, that lifestyle, is the creative muse for our collections. We work exclusively with fine European linen, as it’s essentially the official fabric of the Riviera, so central to fashion and décor, it just reminds me of being there and all the lovely times we’ve had.”

Featured in Flare, The Globe & Mail, Virtuoso Life, The Shopping Channel and the TV show CityLine, Whitney Linen has expanded into a wide-ranging fashion lifestyle brand. Producing summer, resort wear and now fall /winter looks, décor lines, and home fragrance. Adopting the tagline ‘Living in Linen’, annual collections now range from classic home and wardrobe staples to fashion forward, seasonal pieces that emphasize the brand’s contemporary take on linen.