It is interesting to note that in a panel hosted by Mohsin Sajid, Creative Director of denim label and consultancy Endrime, hemp was touted as a fiber to watch for a number of reasons, beginning with the positive effect it can have on the environment.
“Hemp is very justifiably being presented as a great miracle fiber for its potential as a regenerative crop,” said Janelle Hanna, White Weft, Design Consultant. “It has the ability to solve a lot of the problems that we have with soil.”
Hemp can break up compacted soil and remove contamination and heavy metals from the ground. Panelist Zennure Danisman, Marketing and Washing Manager at Orta Anadolu, added that the crop significantly reduced soil toxicity after being grown around the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
When grown, industrial hemp also absorbs more CO2 than any forest or commercial crop—which means growing hemp could help offset carbon emissions in other areas of the denim supply chain. Compared to cotton, the crop also requires less water and time to grow, and can be pre-treated and finished to mimic the same soft hand feel.
Fabric aside, hemp serves a multitude of purposes in denim, according to Laura Dixon, owner of the design consultancy Three By One Europe.
“If you think about the components of a pair of jeans, you can use the fibre, not only in the fabric, but you could also make the buttons out of the bioplastic, and you could make the labelling and hangtags out paper,” she said. “There are quite a lot of parts the denim industry could use hemp for.”
