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Hemp has endured a stigma in our modern society due to the recreational drug use of its fellow species in the cannabis family: marijuana. However, hemp not only contains less than 0.5% THC, but the utility found from the plant on a structural level is unmatched. For hundreds of years, if not millennia, hemp was used for its strength by explorers for their sails and ropes when taking on the tenacious seas, and by the ancient Egyptians when hauling around stones to build the pyramids.
The use of hemp in clothing, however, ceased with the plant’s indefinite moratorium last century. Although, in recent years, the fiber has been making a big comeback. British-based clothing company Vollebak, known for its product innovation, is helping lead the way, most recently with the unveiling of its new Raw Hemp Collection featuring a hoodie and sweatpants. Using a blend of 55% organic hemp and 45% organic cotton sourced from the Heilongjiang mountains in China, these pieces have been left in their undyed state, which is a white tone derived from the inside of the plant itself.
Hemp has 4 times the durability of cotton and 8 times its tensile strength, but the material has also become known for its unbelievable comfort. Aside from being water repellant, UV resistant, and biodegradable, material from the plant also helps the environment, removing around 1.6 tons of CO2 from the air for every 1 ton of hemp produced, which makes it optimal when trying to clean the air, water, and soil of pollutants or radioactive isotopes.
With the new Raw Hemp Collection, Vollebak harkens back to the age-old tradition of wearing raw materials, but here the brand has added its own sense of style to the mix. Both the hoodie and the sweatpants are available now for $375 on Vollebak’s website.
