Think hemp — specifically hemp clothing. What instantly comes to mind? Stiff, scratchy, burlap-sack type clothes that come in unflattering boxy cuts and unisex styles? Think again. These aren’t your mother’s‘70s tie-dye tees or earth mother hemp tunics. Hemp has morphed over the years into a line of apparel that would satisfy even the most discriminating fashionista. Once a staple in closets a century ago, hemp has reappeared in newer, hipper versions.
Why hemp? Why not just run down to a mall shop and pull a cotton shirt off the rack? Many reasons, among them, cotton is one of the most destructive crops on earth, accounting for half of all pesticides used in the U.S., and a quarter of those used throughout the world — much of which ends up in our lakes, streams, and rivers. Hemp, on the other hand, has few enemy weeds or insects and thus needs no pesticides and leaves the soil in better shape than its original condition. An acre of land planted with hemp can yield about two to three times more fiber than the same area planted with cotton.
The outside of the stalk, the bark fiber, is what is spun into threads for use in textiles. Hemp cloth is far warmer, softer, and stronger than cotton, and only gets better with age. Although widely used in America and throughout the world in previous times (as much as 80 percent of the world’s textiles were once made from hemp!) the plant fell victim to federal legislation outlawing it in the early 20th century. Hemp advocates blame its illegal status on everything from its close relation to its psychoactive brother, marijuana (though hemp contains a miniscule amount of thc) to a conspiracy between the government and the Hearst (of magazine fame) pulp plantations.
Today, industrial hemp cannot be grown legally in the U.S., forcing all hemp-wear manufacturers to seek suppliers from other countries. Romania is a prominent hemp supplier, as is China and Hungary, though not all of the countries produce their hemp organically. Despite the U.S. restrictions, hemp clothing has steadily made its way into the more mainstream clothing market.
Jason Ruggles of Ecolution, a leading hemp clothing manufacturer out of California, says that their company is making a point to get away from the "head shop hippie clothing" image by creating clothes that appeal to a more mainstream audience spurring the growth of the hemp clothing market. This concept has the company creating clothes that will move easily between a day in the office and time spent with the kids. Bottoms include trendy mini-skirts and wide leg pants with tops ranging from styles such as tanks and tees to high-collared jackets that evoke a European feel.
Not unlike more conventional clothing found on the racks of well-known retailers, hemp apparel comes in a rainbow of colors — although the natural linen shade does seem to dominate. Most American hemp clothing manufacturers use natural dyes to color their fabrics, extending the earth-friendly concept to embrace the entire operation, from harvest to fitting. It’s now possible to find pants in a "sunset" hue or a top the color of "celery." Men’s button down dress shirts are available in everything from basic black to wild florals. And it’s not just tops and bottoms — there’s hemp shoes, ties, and belts, as well as bags, hats, and jewelry. If you need an outfit for almost any event, save the black-tie, there’s a hemp ensemble that will work.
Sizes are not quite as varied as the color scheme. Most manufacturers make styles that range from extra small to extra large, generally fitting sizes 0 to 16 in women with men’s sizes usually fitting a 30 to 39 inch waist and a 38 to 44 for tops.
However, those who fall into the plus-size range, as the majority of Americans do, may be hard pressed to find hemp clothing that will fit. While the rest of the apparel market is slowing catching on that plus-size fashion is a market to be embraced, the hemp clothing industry has yet to do so. Ruggles says that Ecolution is considering expanding their selection to offer a broader range of sizes to fit people with varied body types, but those plans are still in the early stages.
Hemp is a sturdy fiber that can stand up to multiple machine washings, although it may benefit from the occasional "wet" cleaning (e.g. Chicago’s The Greener Cleaner) and will probably long outlast any cotton equivalent. Most manufacturers recommend laying hemp clothes flat to dry to cut down on wrinkling. Other than that, hemp clothing is as easy to take care of as most other clothes that end up in the hamper.
Patricia O’Brien, owner of O’Fields, one of the only hemp clothing retailers in the Chicago area, cites consumer awareness as one of the driving factors behind hemp’s growing popularity. But while she does think a large part of the population is fairly well-informed about hemp’s many benefits and uses, there is still what she calls "the giggle factor."
O’Brien says that she has to deal with hemp’s association with marijuana on a daily basis and does her best to debunk the idea that you can get high by smoking your hemp pajamas. "There are people who are very delighted to learn about hemp as well as people who don’t have time or aren’t really listening," she says. "Some people avoid education about hemp altogether because they’re afraid to even see what the subject is about."
Ruggles of Ecolution feels that people seem to fall in either one of two categories when it comes to industrial hemp. Either they know nothing about the plant or they are somewhat aware of it because of the marijuana association; he feels more fall into the former. "That’s where our jobs as salespeople comes in," says Ruggles. "If we’re talking to someone for the first time who doesn’t really know about hemp, we stress the ideology of sustainable resources and natural fibers. Hemp clothing is still a relatively new idea in the apparel market and is still in the process of breaking into the mainstream, so the awareness is growing all the time."
Giggle factor aside, O’Brien says that a lot of consumers are becoming hip to hemp’s benefits. Her customers range from very well informed 12 and 13-year olds who favor the men’s boxers to equally educated 80-year olds who want the same pair of hemp pants that they lived in last year.
O’Brien believes the future of hemp apparel is bright, though it may take a shaking up of our environment and resources to have consumers make changes for the better. "People will be forced to listen to mother nature. She will certainly slap us around," says O’Brien. "The future of hemp is going to be enormous. Environmentally we’ll have no choice but to go down that road."
Ruggles agrees, "I think the future of hemp and other natural fiber clothing is going to be huge. It’s becoming apparent that if we don’t change the way we live and move to a more sustainable way of living that we are in trouble, and more people are becoming aware of it."
He even goes so far as to speculate that one day our own reefer-terrified government might recognize the mammoth benefits hemp has to offer in nearly every sector of society, as food, fuel, paper, and textiles.
* Healing Earth Resources,
3111 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago; 773-327-8459
* Mia’s Wish (two locations),
11306 S. Harlem Ave., Worth, IL; 708-671-9474;
444 Chicago Ridge Mall (kiosk), Chicago Ridge, IL;
708-952-0173
* O’Fields, 1547 N. Wells St., Chicago; 312-867-0624
Web Resources:
More Hemp Info:
The Emperor Wears No Clothes,
by Jack Herer