The case for heavy linen.

People will tell you that linen wrinkles. They are correct. It also softens, drapes more interestingly, refuses to pill, and, at the right weight, lasts decades in a way that no synthetic blend we have tested is honest about.

The weight is the thing. Anything under 350 grams per square metre, for a sofa, is going to disappoint you within two years. What we like for the Noor, and for most of the upholstery we carry, is 480 gsm — Belgian or Italian, washed once before cutting.

A final note: the wrinkles get better. Year three is when a linen sofa starts to look like itself.