The Hemp Blend Selvedge is back! This time as an 11oz Japanese selvedge denim woven from a cotton and hemp fiber blend and dyed with indigo. If this sounds familiar, it should. We’ve been circling hemp for a while now.
In 2017, we released a lightweight 10oz hemp blend. In 2024, we went all in with a 13oz denim woven entirely from 100% hemp fibers. This new version lands right between those two experiments, keeping things light while pushing the hemp content a little further to see how it behaves alongside cotton on traditional shuttle looms.
Hemp isn’t a novelty fiber in Japan. It’s been cultivated for well over a thousand years and was once a tightly regulated crop tied directly to everyday life. During the Edo and Meiji periods, rural households planted hemp each spring as a reliable source of textile fiber and income. Finer hemp yarns were sold to city merchants and woven into summer kimono, Shinto ceremonial garments, and parts of samurai attire, while coarser fibers ended up in workwear, rope, and household textiles. Hemp was everywhere, practical, and essential.
The Fabric
This fabric weighs in at 11oz and is woven on Japanese shuttle looms using a right-hand twill. The fiber mix is 77% cotton and 23% hemp. The warp yarns are rope-dyed with indigo, while the weft is left undyed. Hemp fibers bring higher tensile strength and lower elasticity than cotton, which shows up as visible fiber ends and slight irregularity in the yarns. That structure lets more air move through the fabric and keeps stretch in check. With wear, the indigo cotton warp will fade through abrasion, while the hemp fibers tend to stay lighter since they don’t take dye the same way.
One thing worth stating clearly: textile hemp isn’t about chemistry. It’s a non-psychoactive fiber grown for strength, length, and durability, not for anything you’d try to roll up. These are designed to keep you cool, so please... don't try to smoke the jeans! ;-)
Finishing details
The fabric features a white-green-white selvedge edge to mark the hemp blend. The jeans are built with a button fly using antique copper hardware, a hidden coin pocket, standard cotton pocket bags, and a vegetable-tanned leather patch at the waistband. Everything is cut and sewn in Canada.
The Details
• 11oz Japanese Selvedge Denim
• 77% Cotton / 23% Hemp
• Indigo
• White-green-white selvedge edge
• Antique copper hardware
• Hidden coin pocket
• Vegetable-tanned leather patch
• Made in Canada
Release
The Hemp Blend Selvedge releases on February 19th at 11am ET in the following fits: Super Guy, Weird Guy, True Guy, Easy Guy and Strong Guy.
Available online and in store through Naked & Famous Denim Montreal and Naked & Famous Denim NYC.
