Uwishunu.com

Posted by Katherine Silkaitis

Karina Sotnik loves her linen. Not the uptight pantsuits and jackets with “dry clean only” edicts on their tags, but the quotidian linen of towels, napkins, curtains, shawls and other household items. In other words, Sotnik loves the linen that most Americans just aren’t accustomed to.

A native of Latvia, Sotnik knows the ubiquitousness of linen in Europe — it plays the role cotton has in the United States — and its many virtues: it’s hypoallergenic, absorbent and insulating, just to name a few.

To bring linen and all its benefits to an American audience, Sotnik decided to open her own linen boutique. Now close to celebrating its fourth year, Linu Boutique in Washington Square carries an amazing assortment of linens for every occasion and chore, along with appropriate trinkets, such as German glass and Italian jewelry, to accompany it.

The linen Linu carries is imported from the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), and Sotnik makes a yearly buying trip to find new designers and manufacturers. Yet Linu’s latest line is a bit more exciting, since Sotnik designed it herself. A collection of crib linens for babies, Sotnik planned the design and form of the items and has them manufactured for her in Lithuania. Given linen’s lightweight, absorbent and insular qualities, Sotnik explained, it’s one of the best fabrics for newborns.

Though linen is a niche market in this country, Sotnik’s store has been fruitful since its inception. Last October, it moved next door to a location three times larger than its former one, and Sotnick said she has a varied patronage. “My clientele tends to be people who travel, who understand the beauty and benefits of having linen in the house,” she said. Her clients, she added, are drawn from “Rittenhouse, Main Line and gay men from around here.”

Linu Boutique
1034 Pine Street,ӬPhiladelphia, PA 19107
(215) 238-0747

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