Circular hemp activewear brand, Solomon Street, founder Lauren Crago believes that hemp clothing is one of the best ways we can actually ‘wear our emissions’. In fact, her team won the recent Federal Government run "innovation games" based on the idea. “Hemp is a carbon sink, which means that it absorbs carbon emissions and stores them in the ground in its deep root network. This actively feeds microorganisms and keeps our soils healthy.”
Carbon Neutral Clothing
What industry employs more than Australia’s mining and utilities industries combined and employs 77% women? What fibre is older than farming itself, and has the potential to absorb carbon emissions?...Hemp clothing!
A Sustainable Adelaide Fashion Week
For the first time ever, our state’s premier fashion runway show will include a runway event completely dedicated to Sustainability. Alongside pre-loved clothing (re-use is the #1 way to reduce the carbon footprint of a garment), clothing made from recycled plastic bags (literal bags, sewn together) natural fibres are taking over the show, in particular the fibre of the moment: hemp.
Circular hemp activewear brand, Solomon Street, founder Lauren Crago believes that hemp clothing is one of the best ways we can actually ‘wear our emissions’. In fact, her team won the recent Federal Government run "innovation games" based on the idea.
“Hemp is a carbon sink, which means that it absorbs carbon emissions and stores them in the ground in its deep root network. This actively feeds microorganisms and keeps our soils healthy.” - Lauren Crago
Crago and her team mates which consisted of garment technicians from other local brands, including SA favourite RM Williams, mechanical engineers, environmental scientists and fashion students found the link between our state’s well established agriculture sector and the need for a South Australian focus within the recently formed clothing and textiles product stewardship scheme (formed by the Australian Fashion Council and the Australian Government). The Scheme is responsible for an action plan for how Australia will get ourselves out of this clothing crisis and how we can design a circular clothing industry.
“Hemp clothing presents an opportunity to align our state's massive sustainability-driven fashion industry with our need for a carbon sink to offset the state’s emissions (while we transition out of coal), while also providing our farmers with an alternative (and easier) crop to grow.” - Lauren Crago
SA already has a thriving hemp industry, with increasing number of farmers choosing the crop in our State’s South East. (For oil and seed production), with the first processing facility Vircura setting up in monarto. The company plans to process hemp for use in hempcrete and other low grade applications, but Crago believes there is an opportunity here to align the SA’s massive and heavily sustainability driven fashion industry, the state’s need for a carbon sink to offset our emissions, and providing our farmers with an alternative (and easier) hemp type to grow.
This past Saturday’s SA fashion weekend’s ‘Sustain’ runway, included brands showcasing hemp such as Solomon Street, Huntermade, Hemp Clothing Australia and HAB Australia.
Business colleagues on the runway, but friends off, you can look forward to an upcoming ‘environment first’ collab between Crago’s hemp activewear brand Solomon Street and botanical dye artist Phoebe Hunter from Huntermade. The two circular businesses hero-ing two plants: eucalypt beautifully encapsulating Australia’s past and present, and hemp the fiber of Australia’s future.
This SA fashion weekend, the most fashionable outfit could well have been wearing your carbon emissions. Were you?
References:
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1024266
https://ausfashioncouncil.com/product-stewardship-old/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-03-10/south-australian-hemp-homes/102072664
