Hemp Style
About
Hi! I’m Matt, the founder of Hemp.Style. Hemp.Style aims to lead the rebirth of the American textile industry as a premier producer of fine hemp apparel, manufactured in Colorado.
Hemp.Style has its genesis more than thirty years ago when I was in college at CSU, Chico and read Jack Herer’s, “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”. The book exposed me to the incredible range of uses for cannabis and ever since then I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to get my entrepreneurial feet wet in the industrial hemp marketplace.
When I moved to Denver, I found myself in the American epicenter of the marijuana renaissance, as Colorado led the way into legalization. I knew it would take a few years for the industrial hemp supply chain to develop, so it wasn’t until 2018 that I seriously began to think about starting a venture and researching what market to enter. Based on a number of factors clothing seemed like a logical entry point, so I purchased the Hemp.Style domain name, but it turned out that the supply chain still had some development to do.
Today, the marketplace probably still has a couple of years until reaching the point of maturity where it makes sense to fully enter, but it’s getting close. Hemp farming, processing and distribution all still suffer from lack of capital and financial infrastructure, along with inconsistent supply and unproven consumer demand (at least for fiber). To jump-start the supply chain there needs to be multiple end-use manufactures generating demand and utilizing the resulting supply. Hemp.Style intends to be at the forefront of this group.
Unfortunately, at present China continues to be the only hemp fabric exporter and pretty much the only reliable source for raw or finished hemp products. A limited supply is beginning to come from Canada. Therefore, Hemp.Style is forced to start with products made in China from Chinese fabric.
This sucks!! However, it is a necessary step. We will learn a lot from the Chinese. And before long we are going to be doing both design and manufacturing in Denver, with Chinese fabric. And when the time is right, Hemp.Style will be ready to capitalize on our experience to bring you high quality, made in Colorado apparel, from locally grown hemp!