Where does Loden come from?

Loden comes from Tyrol, Austria, where it dates to the Middle Ages.

Plate No. 076fabric

The spruce green that carries the cloth's name.

First documented: Middle Ages
Origin: Tyrol, Austria, Austria
Fiber: wool
Weave: woolen twill, fulled and brushed
Family: twills

Plate No. 076 · fabric

Loden

Loden is the alpine weatherproof: a coarse mountain wool woven loose, then fulled, napped, and shorn repeatedly until it becomes a dense, almost felted cloth that sheds rain and wind without any coating. Tyrolean peasants wore it for centuries before Austrian and Bavarian gentry adopted it for hunting, fixing the deep spruce color called loden green. The loden cape, with its characteristic back pleat, crossed from the Alps into international fashion and stayed, one of the few garments named for its cloth.

Illustration: an Alpine hunting party at a distance crossing a snowy meadow in deep green capes, dark pines, high peaks in haze — An Alpine hunting party at a distance crossing a snowy meadow in deep green capes, dark pines, high peaks in haze.

Named for

From the Old High German lodo, coarse cloth; the deep green it is dyed has its own name, loden green.

Common questions

What is Loden made of?: Loden is the alpine weatherproof: a coarse mountain wool woven loose, then fulled, napped, and shorn repeatedly until it becomes a dense, almost felted cloth that sheds rain and wind without any coating.
Where does Loden come from?: Loden comes from Tyrol, Austria, where it dates to the Middle Ages.
What is Loden named after?: From the Old High German lodo, coarse cloth; the deep green it is dyed has its own name, loden green.