JUST FOR THE HEMP OF IT

Jason Fnnis wants to be touched. He'll even encourage you, proffering an
arm with an eager, "Here, feel my sleeve." Consider it part of the
26yearold entrepreneur's mission: to promote his Hemptown clothing line
and to move hemp from fringe fibre to the mainstream.

The shirt he's wearing, though made of 55 per cent hemp fibre, looks
stylish but ordinary, which is of course the point. An articulate advocate
for hemp as an environmentally superior (fewer pesticides, fastgrowing)
textile alternative to cotton, Finnis wants to take his business "away from
the grass roots." Instead of hawking his line at head shops, he's targeting
upscale boutiques. Instead of the loosefitting, multicolored garments
that are the norm in hempwear, Finnis, working with designer Birgitta
Hellman, is pitching a tasteful look that he likes to compare to lines from
U.S. mailorder giant J. Crew. To boost his company's profile, he's even
sponsored a race car team, providing hemp hats, shirts and pants for the
crew of Stefan Johansson's Indy Lights Racing Team, a move that gives
Hemptown billing on a race car with cosponsors like Marlboro and Firestone.

Ecominded critics might call it selling out; Finnis calls his approach
realistic. The strategy appears to be working: since launching his company
in 1995, Finnis has seen his sales climb by 300 per cent per annum.
Hemptown imports finished hemp fabrics from China and manufactures its line
in Vancouver. Eventually Finnis hopes to buy his fabric from Canadian
suppliers. He may have a long wait. In Canada, hemp can only be grown for
research purposes, although new regulations are expected by early 1998.

Some estimates peg the North American hemp clothing market in 1997 to be
worth as much as 50 million, up from million in 1993. Finnis is confident
he can grab a significant piece of that business from his East Vancouver
warehouse. "The companies who have never bought hemp clothing come to us
because we look like who they're used to buying from we don't have
dreadlocks or 'hippie clothes'; we've got an ultraconservative look."

Copyright Canada Wide Magazines Ltd 1997