Washing: Use a gentle or hand wash cycle. For colored fabrics, cold water is recommended to prevent fading.

Drying: Avoid drying in direct sunlight to maintain fabric quality.

Ironing: Iron on medium heat while the fabric is slightly damp for best results.

HempLove is a female founded hemp fashion and lifestyle brand, founded by Loré Botha and Lara Blevi in 2018. Chris Adams joined the team in 2021 to assist with the financial oversight and growth of the Hemp Love. We represent sustainable slow fashion, with a specific focus on the benefits of hemp textiles in the fashion industry. We cater for a selected group of people who believe in buying quality over quantity, who value knowing where their garments come from, who believe that each choice can have an impact on the health of our planet and who appreciate timeless, high-quality designs.

Hemp is an incredible multi-use and sustainable crop, much more so than cotton and other natural fibers. Hemp textiles are made of the thin fiber layers that surround the stalk of the cannabis sativa plant. In terms of sustainability, hemp is the least harmful to the environment. All the parts of the plant can be used for various applications, from insolation for building to bio plastics, paper, canvas and the seeds are considered a superfood. The list of uses goes on and on.

 

If you compare hemp to cotton, the crop itself requires half the amount of land to cultivate compared to cotton, it requires less water and the most important is that it can be used as an intermediate crop to remediate the soil, keeping it fertile.

 

We use hemp textiles to make all our garments, so every garment is made of a blend of predominantly hemp. We even use hemp twine for our packaging.

Our textiles and trims are carefully sourced. We take care of vetting our suppliers to ensure we are sourcing our textiles from ethical companies and are proud to know exactly where our hemp fabric comes from. We are transparent about our processes, from raw material sourcing to the finished product. Our garments are made from hemp and natural textiles and our buttons are made from river shells. All designs are created in house and are produced in the heart of Cape Town.

Our mission is to unify sustainability with ethics, advocate fair treatment of people and our natural resources. With slower production schedules, small batch collections and little to zero waste design, we strive to promote a conscious lifestyle through high-end quality fashion that is good for our planet.

Conscious fashion means owning up and taking responsibility for your choices within the fashion industry. It means educating yourself to understand where the garment you are buying is made, what raw materials it consists of, what chemicals were used in the process and what industry you are supporting.

It is about being conscious and concise in your purchases. We try to be open, honest, ethical and conscious about what we do. We are not trend based, we are not bulk producers, we are not fast. We are slow, we are a small batch producer with intentions to awaken a sense of ownership in our customers. An ownership of power to make change, by the small decisions we make.

We’ve created short films, worked with influencers who have the same passion for sustainability and we have been interviewed on a talk shows about the importance of sustainability, especially in the fashion industry. We also use our social media platforms to educate our clients. We always open to opportunities to educating and love collaborating with like minded people.

A hemp and organic cotton blend, consisting predominantly of hemp.

We have faced challenges with importing our fabric and the cost of fuel has impacted our margins. We also cannot compete against big fashion houses and their costs of goods, so it is a constant challenge to educate customers about the impeccable quality of our products and that we focus on small batch production, so economies of scale don’t necessarily apply in the short term. We hope to get to a point where this can be achieved, but it will rely on organic growth.

Local production is also more expensive than Eastern Asia, which a lot of companies use to make their garments. Customers generally don’t know this or know where their garments are made, so we really have a challenge in educating customers about how we operate.

We want to become the brand that people think about when they think sustainable fashion or hemp clothing. Like a Patagonia of South Africa. We want to be known for our ethical way of manufacturing, for women empowerment and to set an example for African women and the skillset and power we hold.

More rethreading, upcycling and bold designs. There is more interest in designers who are seen as artist, who’s designs are seen as art. Small batch, personalised fashion – where you know the story behind the item you buy.

South Africa is filled with incredible, aspiring and passionate women who are ready to take on and change the world with their brilliance and talents. We are constantly trying to motivate females who are looking to start their own businesses. We take the time to guide our fellow ladies with their passion projects and answer all the questions that they may have. There are already a few small female owned businesses that we have inspired and we are proud to share knowledge and guidance wherever we can. We strive to empower and stimulate an industry that will give all females the opportunities that they deserve.

Expanding our current ranges to provide new sustainable styles and hopefully one day controlling the whole production process from plant to customer to ensure the smallest impact on the planet.