A very fine, lightweight cotton fabric with a crisp finish and a slightly translucent quality—a fabric that achieves transparency through weave rather than fiber, a cotton that behaves like silk.
Lawn is woven from fine, tightly twisted cotton yarns in a plain weave, then finished under heat and pressure to produce a smooth, crisp surface. The result is a fabric that is lightweight, breathable, and semitransparent. The term lawn originally referred to the French town of Laon, which was a center of fine linen production.
In contemporary fashion, lawn is used primarily for shirts, blouses, and summer dresses, valued for its lightness and its ability to hold a crisp silhouette without stiffness. It is the fabric of the white shirt that is not quite opaque, of the summer dress that seems to float above the skin. Lawn remains a benchmark of fine cotton weaving, a fabric that proves cotton can achieve a delicacy that rivals silk.
