Levis Strauss has unveiled its latest capsule collection of responsibly made products featuring new form of “cottonized hemp” denim, marking another step forward towards sustainable manufacturing of denim.
Utilising Levi’s Wellthread approach, which works to produce denim more sustainably and collection partner Outerknown’s sustainable design ethos, the spring/summer collection includes new denim blend which is made with hemp that has been altered to feel just like cotton.
Benefits of hemp have been long known. It requires far less water and land in the growing phase and has roughly half the carbon footprint of conventionally grown cotton. The coarse feel of hemp prevented it from being widely adopted in the apparel industry. But now the US jean giant has been employing a process specially developed by fibre technology specialists that softens the hemp, giving it a look and feel that is almost indistinguishable from cotton.
Garments in the collection comprises of jeans and a trucker jacket made with a 70/30 cotton to cottonised hemp blend. The hemp was sourced from a rain-fed hemp crop thus reducing the water used in fibre cultivation by roughly 30 per cent. In addition to this, the collection features single-fibre board shorts that are made with fully recyclable nylon with materials such as fabric, eyelets, core and stitching also made from nylon which can be further recycled and re-made into other nylon garments.
“We know hemp is good for the environment, but it has always felt coarse. This is the first time we’ve been able to offer consumers a cottonised hemp product that feels just as good, if not better, than cotton.” – Paul Dillinger, VP, Product Innovation, Levi Strauss Co.
Also the Levi’s Wellthread X Outerknown collection also includes a T-shirt made from recycled jeans and a western shirt made with a cotton/hemp blend.
