Renewal Between the Sheets

Greta was diagnosed with cancer at age 36. Not breast cancer, but a form of blood cancer. During her treatment, she struggled with night sweats. “It really bothered me,” Greta begins when we first meet, “so much so that I would sometimes wake up several times a night feeling cold because of all the sweating, and then I’d have to change my pajamas.” The disrupted sleep bothered the young career woman. Night sweats have an impact on quality of life: during the day, you’re tired and irritable, and that hinders your daily functioning. Greta looked for solutions but couldn’t find a suitable way to sleep better. All sorts of remedies are offered for nighttime hot flashes—from acupuncture to yoga, from dietary advice to breathable clothing—but there’s no optimal approach.

Technical Fabrics

Greta tried all sorts of solutions. “I also looked into technical fabrics that are often used in sportswear,” she says. “They wick sweat away from the skin. During exercise, movement and air circulation help that moisture evaporate more quickly. When you’re lying still between the sheets, there’s much less air circulation, and heat and moisture can linger around the body more easily.” In addition, Greta searched for a natural fabric that not only breathes well but also feels soft and comfortable while sleeping.

Natural flax

Greta is from Harelbeke in West Flanders, a town on the Leie River that was once important to the flax industry. Flax has a very long history. Its strong fibers form the basis for linen and flaxseed oil. Linen is a strong fabric that feels pleasant to the touch, absorbs moisture quickly, and dries fast. This gave Greta the idea to look for ways to improve linen so that it becomes even more breathable. She found the solution at a small French company. “It started with a French spinner who developed a linen yarn suitable for knitting, resulting in a supple fabric that feels like a T-shirt,” Greta explains. Centexbel, a specialized textile research center, then investigated various treatments, including enzymes. Those tests showed that linen in its most natural form—undyed and unbleached—seemed best suited for the nightwear Greta had in mind.

Greta then had the nightwear tested by about twenty women who suffered from night sweats as a result of chemotherapy or menopause. “Several test subjects reported that they woke up less often and slept more comfortably. The fabric breathes well, absorbs moisture quickly, and helps wick it away, so the clothing doesn’t feel damp for as long.”

Moon and Sea

Greta wrote a business plan, sought out funding, and looked for a company willing to manufacture her sleepwear. She managed to secure a grant for innovation and partnered with Centexbel. She also came up with a name for her natural sleepwear: Meralune. “It combines two words that evoke thoughts of women: ‘mer’ (sea) and ‘lune’ (moon). The moon influences the rhythm of the sea, with its ebb and flow. I thought that natural movement of highs and lows fit beautifully with the different phases we go through as women and how we might feel during them.” Today, the brand-new Meralune is a partner of Pink Ribbon , and we’re celebrating our collaboration with the launch of a first collection featuring exclusive introductory prices.