Cannabis in textiles
The first 100% Cannabis pants were manufactured by Levi Strauss for Californian gold miners and were patented in 1873. Only cannabis fabric offered acceptable durability for miners' clothing; no other material would pass the test graphically depicted on the pants' trademark (two horses trying to tear a pair of pants).
Fabrics made from cannabis fiber are incredibly strong, so much so that H.J. Anslinger, the founder of the Marijuana Tax Act, declared: “Truly, cannabis produces the finest textile fiber known to man. If you had a shirt made of hemp, your grandchildren could still be wearing it.” Four times stronger than cotton, its fiber is used to make extremely durable jeans.
Before synthetic fibers flooded the market, hemp was considered an essential raw material, and it was also irreplaceable in the shipbuilding industry for ropes and sails. The ships commanded by Columbus that reached America in 1492 carried 80 tons of hemp in ropes, nets, sails, and other nautical supplies. Columbus also introduced paper (made from hemp) on his expeditions, and it is said that he brought seeds from Indian plants.
Deja Shoe, which received the United Nations Fashion Industry and Environment Award, introduced a line of hemp fabric shoes in early 1995.
We're probably wearing more hemp than we know.
Designer Ralph Lauren revealed that he had been using hemp fiber in his creations since 1984, without disclosing it. In June 1995, in an article titled "The World's Oldest Fabric Is Now the Most Modern," the New York Times revealed Lauren's secret and interviewed Calvin Klein, who declared: "I believe hemp will be the preferred fiber for both home furnishings and the fashion industry." Klein hinted that he, too, would soon be using hemp in his fashion designs.