08/28/2019
Levi's And Outerknown Figure Out How To Use H**p In Denim
Levi’s, the maker of the iconic 501 jeans, is getting into the h**p space in the name of sustainability.
In partnership with sustainable fashion brand Outerknown, the two companies’ latest collection features pieces made from a blend of cotton and h**p. The two brands have collaborated before on sustainable denim, but this is the first time their collection will use the recently legalized crop.
“We partnered with fiber technology specialists to create a ‘cottonization’ process that softens the fiber — using very little energy or chemical processing — to make it look, and more importantly feel, almost indistinguishable from cotton,” reads an announcement from Levi’s.
Industrial h**p is often touted as a sustainable material that can be used to make everything from textiles to buildings to cars. Advocates hail h**p’s host of environmental benefits: It can capture carbon from the air and can also can decontaminate polluted soils. Meanwhile, it also requires a lot less water to grow compared to cotton.
Last December, Congress legalized industrial h**p through the 2018 Farm Bill. The cannabis analytics firm New Frontier predicts that the h**p industry will reach $5.7 billion by 2020.
