For some, hemp and denim have a strong connection. For others, it is and will forever remain a minor fibre. Both camps have a point. Its place and role in the industry may however evolve as an infrastructure builds up to process this alternative fibre. 

The favourite fibre in denim is by far cotton. But cotton-bashing is also a favourite pursuit for brands and retailers that promote hemp as a more sustainable choice. From an agricultural point of view, this claim has real footing. But the impacts of a fibre’s farming are a small sliver of a bigger picture. Zoom out from the field, and the perspective changes. Raw materials that are grown undergo countless transformations and processes throughout the supply chain that may level the playing field between the two ‘original’ denim fibres.

These considerations are often passed over by marketing teams at brands, retailers and mills. When they hype up their hemp-laced jeans, they tend to focus on the plant itself and its positive impact as a robust, regenerative, and resourceful crop. While it is entirely possible that the first denims “de Nîmes” were made from hemp, the fabrics that are being developed use so-called cottonised hemp, a staple fibre. These are integrated into denim fabrics in proportions that go rarely above 30% and are more often in the 10% range which minimises, not to say belies, the impact the presence of hemp in a product can have on its sustainability profile.

Hemp believers

“There is a strong correlation between hemp and denim,” says Alberto Candiani, president of Candiani. “Integrating just a little bit of hemp in the weft gives a denim fabric a special look and feel.” Adding a measure of hemp in basic, he says “boring”, open end yarns makes them “magical”. The Milanese mill sources its hemp fibres in Europe, and incorporates them in proportions that can go up to 50%. This staunch believer in hemp in denims points out that the company has had a “very successful” run with Levi’s. 

“Levi’s very much believes in the importance of hemp as a more sustainable option to conventional cotton,” confirms Paul Dillinger, vp of Design Innovation at Levi Strauss & Co. The company continues to champion hemp “for all the reasons that drew us to it when we first launched cottonised hemp back in 2019.” He says the company has expanded its use of hemp fibres across the brand and continued its R&D initiatives to increase the hemp-to-cotton blend ratio. The group’s 2020 Sustainability Report indicates that its use of hemp increased from roughly 12,000 units at the start, to more than 1 million units in two years.

Orta has seen demand for its hemp-blend denims remain strong, especially from northern European brands. The Turkey-based mill integrates about 20% cottonised hemp into a fabric in both the warp and the weft. It sources its fibre in France, at La Chanvrière. “Its hemp fibres are as natural as can be, the retting process is done on the field, without any chemicals and the fibres have the properties we need for spinning,” Sebla Onder, Orta’s head of sustainability, tells Inside Denim. Hemp aligns well with the company’s focus on regenerative materials. It adds a nice hand feel to denims, but it won’t replace cotton, she says. “The supply of hemp for textiles is limited and it doesn’t make sense to source it from China,” where she says the retting process uses chemicals.

Naveena Denim (NDL) chose Marmara Hemp, grown in France and supplied by The Flax Company, for four different fabrics, having an average of 25% hemp, it developed for German eco-brand Tom Tailor, in a tie-in with Lenzing and Jeanologia. “The entire collection was designed with a mind for circularity from the sustainable fibres to the waterless finishes,” says NDL executive director Rashid Iqbal Nasir.

Marmara Hemp was also the highlight of Bossa’s hemp-focused capsule collection Hempy. “Marmara Hemp is extremely sustainable, and we see great potential for it,” says Özge Özsoy, the Turkish mill’s head of marketing. “The fabrics are made in a blend of hemp, organic cotton and Tencel lyocell, and UK-based design studio Endrime made the styles.”

Mohsin Sajid, owner and creative director of Endrime, is a great promoter of hemp in denims, but he is not alone. Denim designer and consultant Rowan Hunt is also a big fan of the fibre. “One of the advantages of hemp,” says Mr Hunt, “is that it can be grown in Europe.”

Growing resources 

Europe is a leading producer of hemp, and France dedicates the most land to the crop, but the main markets for industrial hemp are not textiles. This situation is changing in France, due in part to the efforts of Denis Druon, president of The Flax Company, and developer of the Marmara Original Hemp label.  He has set up a novel seed-to-fibre network to reintroduce the natural fibre in apparel. The network includes three major hemp cooperatives, located in three different regions, a manufacturer and a distributor (The Flax Company). They work in close collaboration to provide the qualities and quantities the apparel industry needs month after month, and in a fully traceable manner, he says. “Two years ago, 98% of the hemp harvested by French growers went to non-textile applications such as construction materials, seeds, and so on. Now 15% of their harvest is directed towards textile applications.” 

The organisation supports farmers during the retting process to obtain the required characteristics for textile hemp without using any chemicals. “Our qualities are suitable for blends of up to 30% hemp and there is no difference in processing for spinners,” says Mr Druon. The company is scaling up its operations and says it can deliver 100 tonnes per month. Many mills, as shown, and to which Rajby can be added, are using the fibre. Brands that have introduced Marmara Hemp in their ranges include Levi’s, PVH, Inditex, H&M, Uniqlo, Wrangler and Bestseller. 

The Flax Company has also backed its sustainability claims by third party organisations. Marmara Original Hemp is certified Cradle-to-Cradle (Platinum level) and a life cycle assessment has been conducted, confirming its low impact. "Marmara Hemp is now registered in the Higg Index," says Mr Druon.

In the US, Panda Biotech is also setting up a processing facility for textile-grade hemp. It is building and equipping a plant in Wichita Falls, Texas, that is expected to begin operations in early 2023. “Panda Biotech has developed a two-stage, automated and entirely mechanical process. The first stage is decortication and the second is opening and separation which is commonly known as cottonisation,” Mark D’Sa, Panda Biotech business development manager tells Inside Denim. When fully functional, he says the company will have a processing capacity of ten tonnes per hour which will yield 34 million pounds of hemp fibre annually. These fibres, made from US-grown hemp, will also be traceable, he says. 

In 2021, AGI Denim signed up to become Panda Biotech’s first exclusive partner in Pakistan. Mr D’Sa says the company is now also working with other denim and woven fabric manufacturers in Mexico, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Portugal and Japan.

BastCore, based in Nebraska and with operations in Alabama, is also betting on US-grown textile-grade hemp. The company holds two patents, for a decortication and a degumming process, that mechanically transform hemp stalks into material suitable for staple fibre spinning. The company says its methods are less harsh and thus preserve the fibres’ qualities.

Cone Denim began working with BastCore earlier this year. “BastCore’s innovation opens great opportunities to create sustainable denims made from American-grown hemp located close to Cone’s manufacturing operations in Mexico,” commented Cone president Steve Maggard at launch. The two parties have since extended their partnership.

Hemp waste useful too 

Some companies seek to put hemp waste to better textile use. After having experimented with orange cellulose pulp with Orange Fiber last year, Lenzing introduced a Tencel lyocell yarn incorporating 20% cellulose pulp from hemp this year, which Candiani wove into denim fabrics. “Our interest in hemp pulp is strong,” says Michael Kininmonth, business development manager for the Austrian cellulosic fibre producer.

Circular Systems extracts raw fibre material from flax and CBD hemp crop waste to make its Agraloop BioFibres. The Los Angeles-based company is scouting out various types of crop residues, which are usually burned, left to rot, or used in low-value industrial applications, for possible textile applications. It says its Agraloop technology upgrades these residues into natural staple fibre ready to be blended and spun into yarns with other natural fibres.

Naveena Denim Mills (NDM) has used the fibre in its Biotech range of denims, which can contain up to 20% Agraloop fibre made from CBD hemp waste. “It is an innovative low-impact material and it gives denim fabrics a unique natural fibre aesthetic,” says Aydan Tuzun, head of global sales and marketing for the Pakistani mill.

Hemp doubters

The future of hemp thus looks positive, as new suppliers and forms of hemp are developed. Its growing use in textiles does admittedly contribute to lessening a product’s environmental impacts. But some mills are not entirely convinced of its market potential. The higher cost of the raw material and the added efforts it requires during manufacturing are the main barriers this camp puts forward. “Hemp gives jeans a true denim look, and it is a very sustainable and long-lasting fibre, but not all buyers can feel its presence in a fabric,” says the sustainability manager of a leading Turkish mill. “There was a bullish trend for hemp at the start, yet buyers were not convinced by the feel,” agrees Faisal Mahmood, Diamond Denim’s head of sales and marketing. “The trend is there, the story sells, but not the product.” The added value of integrating this alternative fibre may thus be lost on those that ultimately decide what sells: the buyers and the consumers. 

Turkey-based denim mill Bossa has teamed up with Marmara Hemp and design studio Endrime to develop a low-impact hemp-based capsule collection. 
Photo: Bossa  

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