MJBizMag July 2021 - 10

FiveQuestions | with Patagonia
Material
Witness
Patagonia is actively working to bring the
hemp fiber industry back to the United States
By Laura Drotleff
F
iber is a hot topic among hemp producers looking for new
markets-especially since prices have bottomed out for
hemp flower and biomass.
But the lack of fiber buyers and the sector's immature
supply chain have industry observers warning that hemp
growers who transition to fiber too soon might get ahead
of themselves and end up with yet another glut. Californiabased
outdoor-apparel company Patagonia and the state
of Colorado are hoping to change that by bringing together
farmers, machinery manufacturers, textile producers and
hemp researchers.
Patagonia has long used hemp in its Workwear products,
sourcing it from China-based Hemp Fortex, which makes
environmentally sustainable fibers.
National legalization of hemp farming in late 2018 kicked
off the company's collaboration with the state of Colorado to
help move the industrial-hemp supply chain forward through
a project called Bring Hemp Home. A documentary about the
project was released this past spring, following the project
and detailing why reviving a domestic hemp-fiber economy is
important to farmers, textile mills and the state.
MJBizMagazine caught up with Patagonia Material
Developer Alexandra La Pierre and Jason Gonzales, the
head of marketing for Patagonia Workwear, to learn more
about the collaboration.
How did Patagonia become involved in the Bring
Hemp Home project?
Jason Gonzales: The project began with Workwear as a
category being created (at Patagonia) and the decision
being made to use hemp in the majority of the styles. From
there, the team had done a lot of visioning around how
can we bring more hemp into the world from a planetary,
mission-based standpoint.
One of the places where it's been outlawed for so long is
the U.S., and of course with the passage of the 2018 Farm
Bill, that changed. So that was almost what kicked off the
project: How can we support and help establish a thriving
U.S. industrial hemp industry?
10 MJBizMagazine | July 2021
Alexandra
La Pierre
This specific film and this specific project with the state
of Colorado was the result of a lot of people communicating
and saying, " OK, how can we bring all of these people who
are a part of the whole process-not just the farming, not
just the fiber, not just the yarn, not just the material, but
everybody-to discuss how we can move it forward? " The
government in Colorado, particularly the governor, has been
very supportive.
So, (in January 2020) it began in this conference room,
where there was everybody from Patagonia folks to our
Chinese supplier Hemp Fortex, to hemp (businesses) to our
yarn spinners, to material suppliers to people from the U.K.
All of these folks were interested in a part of this whole thing.
That was the moment where it started, where we said,
" OK, how can we work together to actually make this
happen? " Gov. Jared Polis actually did come and speak and
showed his support, and that's what kicked it all off. From
there, it became email chains moving it forward, but that
was the beginning of it.
What inspired the team at Patagonia to bring
everyone together?
Alexandra La Pierre: The whole purpose was a vision that
came from our business unit director and some work the
company had been doing. We were getting these calls
every day from farmers who are so passionate about hemp
(saying), " Please, what do I do with this hemp fiber? Can
Patagonia buy my hemp fiber and put it in their clothes? "
And, of course, every time a farmer calls, I want to tell
them I can buy their fiber. But there are so few resources
out there right now to help direct them into: What is the
MJBizMag July 2021

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