About John England
Fifty-five years
on the loom.
Linen and linen-blend fabrics for fashion, apparel, home interiors and the silver screen — woven, washed and dispatched from our mill in Banbridge, Northern Ireland.
Who we are
Not just a wholesaler.
For over 55 years the brand has supplied linen and linen-blend fabrics worldwide. Our strength is the ability to offer quality, on-trend cloth from stock — at competitive prices, on reasonable minimums, and with a personal service you can pick up the phone for.
But behind the catalogue sits a working mill: an in-house weaving factory with both jacquard and plain looms up to 3 metres wide, plus our own laundry for wash-finishing in soft County Down water. Custom dyeing — yarn or piece — we arrange on your behalf with trusted partners.
That means we can offer completely unique fabrics and special commissions — with trial quantities of only 12 metres and short lead times. It is a level of agility we have spent half a century perfecting.
What we do
Four capabilities, one roof.
01
Woven in-house
Jacquard and plain looms up to 3 metres wide — the broadest in Ireland — running new designs every season.
02
Wash-finished in-house
Our own laundry softens, pre-shrinks and tunes the hand of every cloth in soft County Down water.
03
Held in stock
Quality, on-trend fabrics ready to ship — at competitive prices and reasonable minimums, with a personal service.
04
Bespoke commissions
Completely unique fabrics for fashion designers and film houses — with trial quantities of just 12 metres. Custom dyeing arranged on request.
John England's stories
Every jacquard tells a story.
All the designs we weave on our jacquard looms are unique and trend-setting. We don't stand still — we constantly produce new creations, often inspired by what we see in the world around us.
We've found it interesting for customers to hear the story behind each of these designs. A pattern called Bird & Moon; a damask called Demi; a herringbone named after the hill it was drawn on. The cloth carries the story.
Theatrical linens
The supplier of preference for costume and set design.
Our thriving theatrical linens department offers costume designers affordable but unique fabrics for movie, television, opera and theatre productions. We've been the supplier of preference for many years — quietly, behind the scenes, on sets you'd recognise.
Discretion is part of the service. The cloth speaks loudest in the finished work.
The Irish Linen story
Real linen
is a fibre in its own right.
People ask us what linen is. In the past everyone knew — but the word was once so common it became the term for household sheets, pillowcases and tablecloths, regardless of what they were made of. The word stuck even when the fibre changed.
Real linen is a yarn or fabric made from the natural fibre of the cultivated flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Flax is a cellulosic bast fibre — the long strands run the entire length of the stem, holding it upright. Growers use a controlled rotting process called retting to release them.
In Ireland the retting traditionally happened in rivers, ponds and retting dams. In warmer northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands it can take place in the field — dew-retting. Either way, the fibre that emerges is one of the most generous on earth.
A short history of Irish linen
From “Linenopolis” to the 21st century.
19th Century
"Linenopolis"
Belfast and its hinterland gain the nickname "Linenopolis" — at one point much of the city relies on linen for its livelihood. Mills, bleach greens and warehouses stretch across County Down and Antrim.
20th Century
Cotton, then synthetics
Mass-produced cotton, then man-made fibres, push Irish linen out of household textiles. Many long-established mills close, unable to compete on price alone.
1970s
Linen rediscovered
A growing reaction against synthetic overuse drives linen back into the top tier of fashion and apparel. Promotional efforts in the 70s pay dividends; by the late 80s it is in general use across the developed world.
21st Century
A brand with provenance
Buyers tire of homogenised mass production. They want the green and ethical credentials of what they buy. Irish linen, with its design story and heritage, finds a renewed audience.
Irish linen today
Smaller industry. Higher standard.
It is a smaller industry than it was — but Irish linen is not a part of history. It's still woven and finished today in the same traditional areas, often by descendants of those who passed down skills learned over hundreds of years.
Companies like ours carved out a niche by creative and innovative design — supported by excellent service, quality and flexibility, backed by a stock holding of on-trend fabrics and colours. We get to know our customers and the market, and learn how to give them what they want, often before they know it themselves.
“Irish linen is a brand with a history that says where it comes from.”
Trade organisations
Proud members. Carefully accountable.
European Masters of Linen
A guarantee of European-grown flax, traceable from field to fabric.
Irish Linen Guild
The custodian of the Irish Linen brand and its protected mark of origin.
The Neilly Group
Operated by Thomas Ferguson & Co Ltd, part of a family of long-standing Irish textile companies.
Working with John England
Short supply lines.
Sustainable cloth.
A name you can stand behind.
Whether you need 12 metres for a one-off costume or 1,200 for a global rollout — the same looms, the same hands and the same standard of finishing apply.
