HIP HEMP

No Longer Just A Crunchy Granola Fabric, Hemp Is Going High Style

James Adams and Sarah Kincaid admit they knew little about hemp when
they met. "We knew it was good for your health and for the environment
- -- both issues we were interested in -- but that was it," says
Kincaid. More research uncovered hemp fibre's reputation for strength
and quality, and soon the pair were kicking around the idea of selling
hemp T-shirts.

The Karma Wear name and its first T-shirt slogan, "You don't have to
watch TV to find reality," soon followed. "Once we had the name, it
all started to snowball," says Kincaid, who has a background in retail.

Their Byward Market store, Karma Wear, opened in February and
specializes in high-end fashion. The Parent Avenue shop carries its
own line of hip club clothing made from hemp and hemp-blended
textiles, as well as imported hemp pants, skirts, dresses, bathrobes,
bed linens, shoes and hats, jewelry and cosmetics, even accessories
for the family pooch. It will soon sport clothes made from soy and
bamboo and recently added shoes and purses made in Brazil from
reclaimed canvas, leather, rubber, metal and wood.

"We've tested all of the products ourselves," says Adams. "Hemp is the
Ferrari of clothing. It's not itchy like wool and it's warmer in
winter and cooler in summer."

Hemp is a member of the cannabis sativa family, the same plant as
marijuana, but it has no THC, the ingredient in marijuana that
produces a hallucinogenic effect. "Hemp isn't pot and I won't carry
anything with a pot leaf on it," says Kincaid. For years, hemp was not
used for clothing because of its rough, itchy texture, but with
technological advances in textile manufacturing, hemp fabrics are now
much softer and can be easily blended with other textiles such as
cotton and silk. "We keep a few of the old-style hemp bags in stock so
people can feel the difference," says Kincaid.

Karma Wear's own clothing line is made by designer and seamstress
Sothea Chhay, who has also done work for Ottawa bridalwear designer
Justina McCaffrey. The textiles are all fairly traded and come from a
variety of countries, including Canada. "We cherrypick the items from
all over the world so that we only carry the best of the best," says
Kincaid.

Karma Wear's T-shirts, the clothing item that started it all, sport
slogans that are upbeat, positive or just plain funny. Adams, a
graphic designer, jokes he knows several older men who want to wear
the "Cougar Bait" tee. "It's part of our philosophy. The slogans
aren't offensive like they are on a lot of other T-shirts you see out
there. They're just pure fun."

Hemp is the strongest fibre in the plant kingdom -- it's four times
stronger than cotton -- and contains natural anti-bacterial and UV
protection properties. It can be grown without pesticides and in
virtually any climate -- great news for Canadian farmers. "Last year,
the Ontario government set up a $50-million fund for tobacco farmers
wanting to switch their crop to hemp," says Kincaid. "Canada has some
of the best growing conditions and, since it's still illegal to grow
it in the United States, the industry here really stands to gain from
it."

The federal government is also getting in on the act. Working with
Vancouver-based Hemptown Clothing Inc., the National Research Council
developed an enzyme that breaks down hemp fibre to make it softer. "We
are now able to produce hemp fibre of higher quality than that
produced in China and Europe," says Wing Sung, a researcher with the
council's Institute for Biological Sciences. "With clean strong fibres
made available by our process, we can stimulate the development of
many different advanced products."

Hemp was legalized in Canada for research and commercial purposes in
1998 and at last count has more than 50,000 commercial uses, from
paper and paper products to fuel, plastics, body products, insulation,
even bug repellent.

About three-quarters of Karma Wear's products are imported, but as the
Canadian hemp industry grows -- sales of hemp food products alone grew
50 per cent in 2004 -- Kincaid and Adams believe they will eventually
be able to purchase more of their products from Canadian producers.

"We don't want to ram it down people's throats, but we do want people
to be curious and do their own research," says Kincaid. "At the end of
the day, I have to sell something I believe in. Anyway you look at it,
hemp just makes sense."