Virginia Johnson and Whitney Linen Are Showing Us How to Mix Prints the Right Way
“A lot of people don’t look at linen as a print textile fabric,” says Whitney Westwood, the founder of Toronto-based Whitney Linen. But her Spring 2018 collaboration with artist and textile designer Virginia Johnson is out to change that. Johnson, renowned for her jaunty Marimekko-esque prints, designed an impressionistic leopard print, a splotchy ikat and a classic nautical stripe to be splashed onto breezy linen skirts, blouses and, of course, caftans. Westwood’s design sensibility is informed by her childhood summers spent in the South of France, a subject on which Johnson happened to be writing a book.
Even more serendipitous? Johnson’s family used to rent the Westwood home near Saint-Paul de Vence. “As soon as Whitney walked in my front door, we put it together,” says Johnson. “It’s really funny, because [even though] that was 20 years ago, I’ve always remembered the pretty floral pattern on the tile in the upstairs bathroom.”
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://fashionmagazine.com/style/virginia-johnson-whitney-linen/&title=Virginia Johnson and Whitney Linen Are Showing Us How to Mix Prints the Right Way&picture=https://fashionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/MG_8597_2_MC_800x-800x500.jpg&description=“A lot of people don’t look at linen as a print textile fabric,” says Whitney Westwood, the founder of Toronto-based Whitney Linen. But her Spring 2018 collaboration with artist and textile designer Virginia Johnson is out to change that. Johnson, renowned for her jaunty Marimekko-esque prints, designed an impressionistic leopard print, a splotchy ikat and a classic nautical stripe to be splashed onto breezy linen skirts, blouses and, of course, caftans. Westwood’s design sensibility is informed by her childhood summers spent in the South of France, a subject on which Johnson happened to be writing a book.
Even more serendipitous? Johnson’s family used to rent the Westwood home near Saint-Paul de Vence. “As soon as Whitney walked in my front door, we put it together,” says Johnson. “It’s really funny, because [even though] that was 20 years ago, I’ve always remembered the pretty floral pattern on the tile in the upstairs bathroom.”
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