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How the sleepwear start-up Piglet is innovating linen basics

This family business went from a garden shed to becoming an international success.

This year, we’ve all spent a lot more time at home than we ever have before, so why not give yourself and your loved ones the gift of a blissful night sleep? Start your search with Piglet, a British sleepwear company whose comfortably elegant natural stonewashed linen products make for an effortlessly beautiful home.

The direct-to-consumer company had humble beginnings. Jessica Mason started Piglet in 2017, in her mother’s garden in West Sussex, on the hunch that there was an untapped market for sustainable, well-made linen bedding. “I have always really loved interiors, but had never really found any bedding to get particularly excited about,” Mason said to Business Insider. “The high prices associated with quality sheets was especially off-putting and the classic crisp cotton look didn’t fit my lifestyle.”

So, Mason moved in with her mother and invested £20,000 of her savings to create bedding that would better fit a home she imagined for herself. “I wanted to create homewares that would be effortless, durable, super low maintenance,” she said to MyDomaine. “and that would look beautiful even on an occasionally unmade bed.”

Mason was drawn to linen, which is incredibly durable and gets softer with time, not only because of its aesthetic but also because of its sustainability. Every part of the flax plant can be used, and it’s naturally farmed in small batches as a rotation crop. Piglet started with just a small line of linen duvet covers and pillowcases, in a few natural hues, all made from 100% French flax. As she told Helm, she kept as little inventory as she could get away with.

But it didn’t take long for people’s awareness of the brand to grow, especially because of her successful social campaigns. Piglet’s first sale was on Instagram, which continues to be one of the strongest retail channels for the company. Within a year, the business had a cult following in the U.K., and “outgrew the garden shed”.

Now they operate out of a converted barn on the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, and have a team of 18 employees helping them to expand their products to every room of the home — offering everything from table linens table linens and curtains to pyjamas and robes as well as other accessories, like their lavender-scented Room & Pillow Mist Spray.

But the company’s primary focus hasn’t changed: their bedding is still paramount. Piglet now offers bedding bundles so you can completely outfit your bed in Piglet’s linen wares, including the Midnight Stripe Bedtime Bundle, which pairs a grey-and-white striped duvet cover with a set of white sheets. Linen’s long natural fibres easily wick away moisture, regulating your body temperature so that you can get a wonderful night’s sleep no matter the season. And rather than looking crumpled, linen’s effortlessly wrinkled and dappled aesthetic gives your bedroom a rustic look.

Just this past year, Piglet expanded yet again: they now also have a second operation in Illinois, helping meet the growing demand in the U.S. Even with the pressures that COVID-19 has put on their international supply chain, the business has grown by 190 percent in 2020. But this rapid expansion doesn’t mean that Piglet has forgotten its roots. “We are yet to lose an employee,” Mason reports. “Creating an environment that our team wants to work in for a long time is really important to us. At our core, we are a family business.”

To learn more about Piglet and their beautiful linens check out their website — and remember to use Amazon Pay at checkout.