A new initiative has been launched to push hemp further into denim production by proving it can rival cotton on softness and performance. Called Beyond50 Denim, it combines fibre refinement with green chemistry to overcome barriers that restrict hemp’s role in jeans. Fashion for Good is leading the project, aiming to raise hemp content well beyond current industry limits while maintaining durability and consumer appeal.
- The project brings together brands Bestseller, C&A, PDS Limited, Reformation and Target with innovators SEFF and Fibre52, aligning design, sourcing and chemistry to validate higher hemp content in denim fabrics.
- Manufacturing support comes from denim mills Bossa in Turkey and Nice Denim in Bangladesh, which will help validate the performance of cottonised hemp blends under commercial conditions.
- Conventional denim production depends on cotton, which drives water consumption and pesticide use across supply chains, prompting brands to explore alternative fibres that can meet performance expectations.
- Hemp offers sustainability advantages but adoption has been constrained by expectations on softness and aesthetics in jeans, demanding solutions that deliver cotton-like handfeel without undermining comfort, durability or appearance.
- The project will test whether refined hemp fibres and chemistry can support hemp content above 50% in denim while retaining durability, comfort and market appeal across product ranges.
PROJECT UNVEILED: Fashion for Good has launched the project to address barriers restricting hemp integration in global denim production. The effort combines SEFF’s Nano-Pulse cottonised hemp fibres with Fibre52 chemistry that can deliver a softer handfeel. Manufacturing partners Bossa and Nice Denim will produce fabrics to validate higher hemp content without compromising performance or consumer acceptance.
- The coordinated launch frames hemp adoption as a collective industry challenge requiring aligned brands, innovators and mills rather than isolated, incremental improvements from single companies.
- SEFF’s technology transforms raw hemp into cotton-like fibres that are easier to spin and integrate, tackling long-standing processing obstacles in denim applications.
- Fibre52 offers proprietary formulations intended to improve softness in cellulosic fabrics, addressing a key consumer expectation that has constrained hemp’s use in jeans.
THE CHALLENGE: Denim’s dependence on conventional cotton links the category’s growth to resource-intensive cultivation that uses significant water and pesticides. Hemp presents climate-resilience advantages and beneficial soil interactions, yet adoption typically stays below 20% due to handfeel and aesthetic demands. By targeting those constraints directly, the project positions higher hemp content as a pathway to reduce denim’s footprint while maintaining mainstream acceptance.
- Cotton remains valued for softness and cost, yet its conventional cultivation contributes to environmental and social impacts spanning water consumption, chemical inputs and wider supply chain burdens.
- Industry stakeholders recognise that material transitions require consumer acceptance, making tactile quality and visual standards central to any fibre shift in widespread denim applications.
- Elevating hemp content depends on consumer acceptance, requiring parity with existing expectations for comfort and familiar appearance in denim.
HOW THEY PLAN TO DO IT: Beyond50 Denim reflects a collaborative template increasingly used to tackle entrenched adoption barriers in textiles. Rather than advancing isolated technologies, the project aligns complementary innovations to address multiple bottlenecks at once: fibre transformation and fabric handfeel. The initiative aims to demonstrate pathways that could scale across mainstream denim production if results hold.
- The project focuses on overcoming persistent difficulties in achieving cotton-like softness and aesthetic standards demanded by mainstream denim consumers.
- The project’s hypothesis is that combining fibre modification with finishing chemistry can jointly overcome persistent barriers that neither approach fully resolves on its own.
- Brand participation may accelerate learning cycles and encourage adoption by validating outcomes jointly with innovators and mills.
