"Hemp: Fashion’s material for a sustainable future"
If sustainability and the future of fashion are linked, the answer is undoubtedly hemp. Here are key points distilled from a previous English-language article.
Why, then, has hemp—with its environmental and economic advantages—not yet seen widespread adoption in the fashion industry? Some historical reasons include:
・Between 1910 and 1920, many Mexicans fled to the United States to escape violence from the Mexican Revolution. Alongside migration came the social use of marijuana. As xenophobic sentiment toward immigrants (including undocumented immigrants) grew, prohibitionists scapegoated Mexican communities by associating them with drugs (marijuana) and crime.
・The rise of synthetic fibers also dealt a major blow to hemp. Companies such as DuPont lobbied for laws that would cripple the hemp sector. The 1937 Marijuana Tax Act imposed burdens on hemp growers and restricted cultivation; further criminalization followed, and the 1970 Controlled Substances Act effectively banned cultivation of cannabis (including hemp).
As this history shows, marijuana was stigmatized throughout the 20th century. Government messaging around “marijuana = illegal” was used in ways that harmed immigrant and Black communities—an issue closely entwined with America’s history of racial discrimination.
Commentary: Marijuana entered the U.S. discourse in the 20th century and was leveraged politically as a tool of social control. For a detailed account, see Let’s Talk Seriously About Marijuana by Yumiko Sakuma (Bungeishunju). https://books.bunshun.jp/ud/book/num/9784163910741
In addition, lobbying by the U.S. cotton industry—alongside chemical fiber (petrochemical) companies—worked to protect an already concentrated market for apparel raw materials, likely viewing a hemp revival as a threat.
Weavearth supports a clear legal distinction between marijuana (high THC) and industrial hemp, and advocates expanding cultivation of the latter (THC ≤ 0.3%) for new agricultural and industrial applications.
As of the 2020s, what challenges remain for hemp? Continued in Part 3.
