One New York based clothing company is trying to change the persona that only “hippies” are into hemp.
“We’re trying to appeal to a much larger market,” said Alex DeVito, public relations manager of Fair Hemp, “Before when people purchased hemp T-shirts they were expecting burlap sacks. Now we have new processing methods and natural enzymes that greatly improve the softness of the clothing as well as the quality of the printing and designing.”
Before these new processes were introduced, hemp was much rougher and had problems with the knits getting twisted up, he said. Hemp clothing was also very much a niche thing found only in small groups. Now with improved technology, hemp is poised to be the fabric of the future.
“Our hemp clothing is more modern fitted, it gets softer each time you wash it, it’s about four times stronger than cotton, and it is very environmentally friendly,” DeVito said.
With more intense focus on the environment these days, the need to use resources wisely is a hot button issue, DeVito said.
“Cotton is one of the most inefficient and resource consuming materials manufactured,” DeVito said. “Cotton uses large amounts of water and it is usually manufactured in places that don’t have a lot of water resources. Pesticides are also used in large quantities when producing cotton and most of those pesticides are petroleum based. Hemp grows naturally as a weed and therefore requires no pesticide treatment and does not require the use of a lot of water resources. Also, since we do use some cotton in the production of our clothing, we only use organic cotton, which has a much more minimal impact on the environment.”
Most people have only seen the large baggy shirts, which may not seem too appealing, but DeVito said there are more options for hemp.
“We produce hats, T-shirts, wristbands, beanies and even aprons, and we’re looking into producing military hats,” DeVito said. “Hemp is also good for sportswear because it breathes very well. Also, because of its straight fiber structure, it is naturally anti-bacterial. It also provides much more ultraviolet ray protection. With cotton, after four or five exposures to the sun, the clothing is not protecting you from UV rays. Hemp on the other hand is much more resistant to UV rays,” he said.
There appears to be many advantages from using hemp, however, one major issue with all types of clothing is how they are produced.
“We personally oversee all manufacturing of our product,” DeVito said. “Our clothing is made in China, we have offices there, and I have personally been to every manufacturing site. It is our company policy to be sweatshop-free. Hemp grows like a wildfire all over northern China where most of our manufacturing is based. It is grown locally there and transported to our production sites where we adhere to the fairest labor practices in the industry.”
It certainly seems like hemp is on the rise, however, one major drawback to hemp is that is very expensive. This is partly due to the increase in the quality of the product and because it is sweatshop free.
The concept of sweatshop-free manufactured clothing means that clothing is produced in factories that follow strict labor practices.
Workers receive fair wages, so the clothing cannot be made as cheaply, thus increasing the price. This concept is even starting to catch on around the world and can even be seen here in small town Blacksburg.
The clothing stores Homebody and Fringe Benefit, both located on South Main Street, are strong advocators of sweatshop-free clothing.
“Homebody has a wide selection of casual knitwear from American Apparel, Alternative Apparel and No-Sweat Apparel. American Apparel has the widest range of casual wear from T-shirts to pants. All the clothing from these companies is produced here in the United States so we can be certain they are abiding by much fairer labor practices than sweatshops,” said Margaret Breslau of Homebody.
The same can be said for Fringe Benefit as far as domestically produced clothing is concerned. “We have five or six brands that are made in the United States,” said Nancy Willoughby, owner of Fringe Benefit. “Most of the clothing is linen and the companies are headquartered in California.”
Since Fair Hemp mainly supplies wholesalers, their products cannot be found in local stores like Homebody or Fringe Benefit.
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