I’m caressing covers of crisp percale, kneading my hands into pillowcases of fine poplin and stroking cushions of lustrous sateen. Choosing bed linen is an intimate affair. Until you feel the fabrics, you can’t truly appreciate the difference between the sheets.
I am at Frette’s flagship store in Milan, located in a handsome townhouse on Via della Spiga, one of the city’s most illustrious shopping promenades. Since opening its doors in the late 1800s, Frette has made it its business to seduce us. Founder Edmond Frette began manufacturing luxury textiles near Monza in northern Italy in 1865 after relocating from his hometown of Grenoble in France. He was one of the first linen merchants to produce jacquard – intricate designs achieved by a mechanical loom imported from his homeland that used punch cards to control the weave.