Behind the Scenes: Visiting China
Early last year, we travelled to Normandy in France to see where our beautiful linen begins its life. Standing in those flax fields and walking through the processing factories gave us a whole new appreciation for our product. Read the blog about our trip here.
But, France is only the provenance!
From there, those fibres continue their way across the world to our wonderful makers in China, where they’re spun, dyed, woven and sewn into the Foxtrot products that find their way into your home.
We’re so excited to be heading back to China again this May, our fourth visit since 2018. We both absolutely love the opportunity to watch the natural fibres move through the stages of the manufacturing process, and to spend time with the small communities who play such a pivotal role in making our products.
Here’s a little inside look at what we get up to on our China trips!
A gorgeous wee village
The first stop on your linen’s journey is always in the Hunan Province in Central China where the flax fibres from France begin their next stage of life.
It’s a beautiful spot with rolling countryside, quiet roads and impressive stone-walled barns that wouldn’t look out of place in parts of Europe. Not exactly the industrial setting people might imagine when they think about manufacturing, but this is all part of the China we know and love.
From here, the bales of flax arriving from France are spun into yarn before heading next door to be dyed into the colours that will eventually become Foxtrot Home French Flax Linen products. Our makers are very discerning and only purchase the best grade of flax linen available, with longer fibres and premium quality. Not only this, but the flax linen they use is European Flax Linen certified ® which is a trademark for ethically-made and sustainably-produced fibre. Read more about this here
These factories employ local people from families living within the village, so there’s a lovely sense of community about the place. Seeing it all in person gives us a real appreciation for how many skilled hands are involved before a linen product ever reaches our shelves.
Down to Shenzhen
From there, the fabric travels south by truck to the wonderful, buzzing city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong. This is where the final stages of production take place. Here the linen is cut, sewn and carefully finished before making its way to us in New Zealand.
The factory we work with is a small, family-run operation of around 25 employees, and takes enormous pride in the work they do. Spending time here is always one of the highlights of our trips. Sitting down together with fabric samples and discussing ideas plus seeing the work being carried out up-close allows us to collaborate in ways that a Zoom meeting never quite replicates.
Not only do our visits strengthen the relationships that are so important to our business, but we also get to explore new colours and ideas for future Foxtrot collections!
Our team did not come to us by accident. out of literally thousands of makers available in the manufacturing world are SA8000 certified and are [passionate about caring for their employees.
The joys of travelling together
Of course, it’s not all factory visits and fabric samples. Whenever we can, we try to tack on a couple of extra days onto these trips to see a little more of this amazing country.
On our last visit, we caught a bullet train (we love our bullet train trips!) to a region called Guilin, which we’d heard was beautiful - that turned out to be an understatement! Look at that backdrop!
The landscape in this region is famous for its dramatic limestone mountains rising straight out of the countryside, with winding rivers and rice fields stretching between them. It is absolutely stunning. And cycling around together in rural China where no English is spoken…what could go wrong? Thank goodness for GPS these days which helped us out of a pickle or two in our travels.
Travelling around such a beautiful country and enjoying China’s wonderful hospitality and cuisine is truly such a privilege. The only small foible is that it’s very much a tea country, so a small jar of Moccona coffee always comes along in the suitcase with us. You can take the girls out of New Zealand, but do NOT take us away from our coffee!!
Looking ahead
Trips like these are a reminder that good linen is the result of many different hands, skills and communities working together across the world.
From the flax fields of Normandy, to the villages of Central and South East China, each step in the process plays its part in bringing Foxtrot linen to life.
We’re already looking forward to heading back again this May and seeing how our new creations are coming along. Watch this space!
Prue x
