With the ever-growing interest in hemp in the aspect of naturality and benefits, I think it’s time to discuss how this natural material plays a role in fashion. For those of you hoping you could feel a kick from smoking this, no, you can’t, but the moral high ground you get by wearing and using this fabric could be better than any other high you would expect.
We have already discussed cotton on this site and its benefits in fashion; however, hemp fabric not only brings them into the fashion industry, it also brings them into our surrounding environment as one of the most eco-friendly fabrics. Mother nature will thank you.
Where It All Started
Hemp fabric is suggested to be around since 10,000 years, dated in the Middle East, making it one of the oldest textiles in the world. There are speculations that the plant has been around since 5000 BC in Asia. In China, hemp plants would grow wild and later have been made commercial for fabric and for trading with Japan. Hemp fabric took over animal skin fabric in Ancient China because of its high quality and low cost. It continued to the 13th century until cotton took over because of imports from India.
The growth of hemp plants was introduced in the UK in the 16th century, where they were being cultivated. In the 18th century, farmers in the United States were legally required to grow it. Hemp farming was well respected by the founding father, where George Washington was known to grow it on his estate.
Hemp in ancient times was used for a variety of reasons. Traces were found in pottery, food, rope, and more. To read a more detailed timeline of hemp findings in history, click here.
In the 1970s, because of the Drug War in the US, hemp was made illegal because of the correlation with its cousin plant containing THC. Hemp was held accountable by the media and government as a reason for the cause of poor health and increase in drug use, despite it having no contributing factor to the increase in drug use in the United States.
Because hemp plants were banned, hemp fabric was no longer allowed to be made; thus, synthetic fibers were used to create clothing and fabrics. Because chemicals were used to create such fibers, costs were low, therefore, the fabrics became mainstream and created what we know today as fast fashion.
How Sustainable is Hemp Fabric?
Hemp fabric is created by hemp plants, which do not require lots of water to grow, pesticides, herbicides, or any chemical fertilizers. The lack of need for pesticides is due to the plants natural ability to repel insects. All while, compared to cotton, hemp uses 50% less water per season, and this is without processing. Overall, cotton uses 4x more water in total than hemp. They also grow easier and quicker than other textile plants. Hemp plants have a very high yield, with one acre of hemp producing two to three times more product than one acre of cotton.
With the accumulation of resources (water, land) saved with the production of hemp fabric and the growth of hemp plants, it is a great step to save earth’s resources and not use them in abundance. Not only are we taking less from the environment, but hemp also returns 60-70% of the resources taken back into the soil.
Uses of Hemp Fabric
Just because hemp plants are eco-friendly does not lower the quality of the final products. Hemp products are of very high quality. Hemp fabric creates natural, breathable, soft, lightweight, hypoallergenic, antibacterial, and durable pieces of clothing.
Nowadays, many brands have discovered the wonderful advantages and benefits of hemp. New labels have been created for the sole sales of hemp clothing, while other (big & small) brands have integrated hemp fabric into their clothes and/or collections.
Levis has partnered up with Outerknown to create the Wellthread Collection, which features trucker jackets and western shirts made from hemp fabric. It also includes the infamous 511 jeans created with “cottonized” hemp. This method means hemp fibers have been processed to look and feel like any cotton fabric.
Mara Hoffman is another example of a premium designer that has included hemp collections in their brands.
They create many different pieces with hemp fabrics, including dresses and swimwear.
Patagonia is yet another brand to include sustainable fabric in its clothing. They introduced their hemp line back in 2017 for their workwear collections. Because the feedback received was rather positive, they have decided to add more. Their hemp collection now includes shorts, tees, and summer products. They have a total of 68 hemp fabric products.
With this said, it’s still very important to make sure the hemp products you are purchasing are indeed organic. Just like any other material, some companies are producing hemp fabric with the use of chemicals, or even added fertilizer to their plants.
Hemp fabric is something that needs to continue to grow, and big companies using it for their products are already a great way to start changing the idea around fashion and the quality of products.
It is now time for you to express your thoughts on this. Let me know in the comments your thoughts and feelings about hemp fabric, and perhaps even hemp plants, and what steps are you personally taking to be more sustainable when shopping.
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1 Comment
I was not aware of all this info and benefits about hemp. It seems a good idea to invest in this material….its low consumption of water, compared with cotton, is already a good reason.
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