Saba Linen Shirt

• Main Body: 100% Softened Pure Linen:

Linen is incredible for sensitive skin in the sun, reducing the suns harmful gamma radiation by about half! So the perfect choice after your time in the sun. Linen is also resistant to bacteria and fungus and terribly clever at keeping itself clean, with the silica in the linen acting as a filter to repel dirt. Able to absorb about 20% of its dry weight before “feeling” wet, linen is the best fabric to throw on after a swim. Find out more about all the amazing attributes of linen here.

• As England’s last remaining button factory, Courtney and Co use the finest natural materials to make our Corozo and Codelite® buttons: 

Corozo 

Derived from the nut of the tagua palm, Corozo is harvested from the rainforests of Ecuador. The tagua palm may take 15 years to produce its first crop, but these nuts will then be harvested from this same tree for a century or more. From each tree 15 spiny balls named ‘mococha’ will fall to the ground, each containing around 20 little pockets filled with six nuts. This means a single tagua palm tree can produce 1,800 nuts per year - enough for thousands of Corozo buttons each and every year! 

As the harvesting occurs once the nuts have naturally fallen, this means the tree can live untouched and undamaged throughout its life. This great sustainable and economic value provided by the tagua palm also means these rainforests remain largely protected. Who knew such good could be achieved through one tiny button!

Codelite®

Though it might seem hard to believe, the UK has been making buttons from milk since 1910. Yes - milk! 

Casein, the protein element naturally occurring in milk, once cured and hardened in sheets or rods, quickly became a staple for button making. However, with the growing popularity of polyester buttons in the 60s and 70s, milk based buttons became obsolete. Over 40 years later, Courtney and Co are re-introducing a modern version of milk casein, known as Codelite®. Separating the solid curd from the liquid whey using rennet (a naturally occurring enzyme), formalin is then added which hardens the curds at a rate of around 1mm in thickness a week. This results in a button made from 96% milk! The whey, having many uses of its own, is then sold meaning nothing in the process goes to waste.

Robust and hard-wearing, Codelite® buttons behave much the same as their polyester rivals. Yet, unlike polyester, these little buttons are biodegradable, sustainable and traceable. Supporting British farmers, a sustainable English factory as well as helping the environment…these are pretty superb buttons!

(Read more about the history and lifecycle of a Solpardus button here) 

• Cold handwash only
• Care Guide