Carrying on with our ‘Our Fashion’ series of blog posts, today I’m going to talk about Hemp. The word ‘hemp’ conjures up images of so called ‘hippies’ from the 60s and 70s, wearing mis-matched clothing, not focussing on the fashion aspect of clothing and rather the practical, earth-friendly elements. Of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with this outlook, but there are those of us who do care deeply about how stylish our clothes are as well as how environmentally friendly they are.
For Clothing
Hemp these days can be woven into a fabric just as soft as cotton, and it is the kind of fabric that gets softer the more wear you get out of it. It’s also a much stronger fabric than cotton, ensuring your clothing will last as long as you need it to without wearing out.
Hemp has actually been used for textiles since since the 1820s, maybe even before! At one time it accounted for 80% of all textiles!
For the Planet
As hemp uses minimal water to grow, and needs to pesticides, it is a much more environmentally friendly material than those we regularly use for clothing.
It helps enrich farmers’ soil, improving the overall quality, loosening it and getting rid of weeds. This helps farmers get the very best out of their fields.
Hemp is also suitable to compost. That means once something is past it’s use, you can just pop it on your compost heap if you have one, reducing landfill waste!
For You
Hemp is hypoallergenic so it’s perfect for those with sensitive skin, plus it has an integral ability to fend off nasty bacteria. The fabric is also UV resistant, filtering the suns rays up to SPF 15.
Hemp is also thermo regulating, this means whether you’re too hot or too cold, it will respond accordingly to cool you down or warm you up.
Have you bought any hemp clothing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!