One of the most important players in the revival of the hemp textile supply chain in Italy is definitely Opera Campi. The Parma-based brand, led by Alberto Ziveri and Beatrice Corazza, was one of the first to bring hemp for textile use back to life in Italy, creating an ever-fashionable clothing collection using only the prized hemp.
Opera Campi was born back in 2017, when the difference between industrial hemp and cannabis (both for medical and recreational purposes) was still not entirely clear. At the time, many people thought that wearing textile hemp clothes somehow made them "high." Today, the situation has improved, and more and more people are aware that industrial hemp does not have psychotic effects; in fact, wearing textile hemp clothing has many benefits for our skin (I have discussed this extensively in this article, for example).
Spinning techniques, innovative fabrics and maximum transparency of the process were some of the topics discussed during my very interesting interview with Beatrice Corazza, co-founder of Opera Campi.
I realized that the best hemp is like wine, the harvest and quality cannot be predicted well in advance. One year the harvest is better than the others, because precisely because it is a natural fabric there are so many aspects that affect its growth, and finally, as with wine, the final quality of the fabric is closely related to the production techniques.
HSM: How did Opera Campi come about?
OC: Alberto, who is trained as a computer engineer but has always been passionate about textiles, began in 2017 to study the hemp plant and how the fabric was used in the past, later discovering the important history linked to the Parma area and the benefits of this extraordinary fabric, both for our skin and our environment. With the goal of bringing back the softness of ancient hemp and innovating the industry by using European yarn from France, Alberto created the first textile hemp jacket and presented the project on Kickstarter, achieving worldwide success.
In 2018 came the first difficulty to face, because the French company from which we were buying the yarn decided to omit production, due to unsustainable production costs and little market demand. At this point we had to re-invent ourselves and find new producers of the hemp yarn. After evaluating several suppliers, the choice fell on a Chinese supplier, based in the so-called "black lands" area, in the Heilongjiang region (we talked about this region here - ed.), which is a particularly humid area where hemp grows without any kind of irrigation, is characterized by long linden and processed in wet. This technique makes it possible to keep intact the intrinsic qualities of the hemp fabric, which have also been verified by us in the laboratory, namely:
- Thermoregulation: maintains body temperature;
- Breathability: and this is also confirmed by studies of the fabric in the laboratory, in fact under the microscope the fiber has air channels, which are called lumens and which allow air to circulate, so the air breathes and this regulates the temperature
- Durability: the fabric is very resistant to washing and use and really lasts for many years.
HSM: So you don't use cottonized hemp?
It is a technique that is used a lot in China and also has a very affordable cost.
OC: No, absolutely, we do not use cottonized he mp because this process involves the use of short hemp fibers that do not have the same characteristics as long fibers. In fact, cottonization is used to adapt the hemp fibers for spinning with other natural fibers, such as precisely cotton or wool, but in order to join these fibers, the length of the hemp fibers must necessarily be shortened and therefore a very important part of the benefits of long-fiber hemp, just described, is lost. We believe that this is a compromise, which yes certainly is more affordable on the cost side, but it does not retain the specific benefits of hemp present in precisely the long fibers and therefore the final fabric loses quality.
For us, however, quality is one of the main goals, and so we are interested in promoting and offering the products that enhance all the benefits of textile hemp. For this reason, we have found a Chinese partner with the specialized know-how in the production of long-lime hemp, who provides us with the very fine and very high quality yarn, 100% hemp. Then, you can never know very far in advance how the harvest will go and what the quality will be. In this, hemp is like wine, one year it's better and another year it's worse.
HSM: Once the yarn is purchased, how does the textile production proceed?
OC: The entire production process takes place in Italy, from our trusted suppliers located in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Lombardy. We don't buy fabrics from stock, but we think about them based on the final product we want to present and then we try to make them. We have had several innovative ideas, we have challenged our suppliers, because making fabrics with high percentages of hemp is not trivial. It is a yarn that needs special attention to be processed. It is of paramount importance for us to develop the fabrics in-house, because we want to maximize the inherent qualities of hemp fabric, and, where possible, improve them by combining it with other natural fibers.
HSM: I know you have developed several cutting-edge fabrics in recent years, but still managing to maintain a very high percentage of hemp.
OC: Correct, our goal is to produce fabrics with at least 92 percent hemp. In recent years we have developed several innovative fabrics featuring patented retort technologies and special finishes.
Our first fabric, made through a patent, is called Herotex™, a stretch fabric composed of 92% hemp, 4% Lycra and 4% polyester. Simply super cutting-edge, with record breathability, supreme elasticity and anti-odor. In recent months, we have further optimized it and will have it back in stock around September 2023.
La Canapa, on the other hand, is our fabric par excellence, made entirely of textile hemp, with which we have created different versions, such as precisely an all-weather hemp, a Zero hemp (that is, undyed and with the finest yarns), and knitted hemp.
With the Burro Canapa® fabric, composed of 96% hemp and 4% elastane, we wanted to prove that light and soft fabrics can also be made from hemp. Moreover, this fabric is perfect for all seasons because it has unparalleled breathability at the level of technical fabrics.
Lanapa®, the absolute warmest and most sustainable fabric, thus also suitable for the one season that textile hemp alone cannot provide, that of the harsh winter. This fabric is made through an innovative retort technology that precisely combines merino wool (70%) and our fine hemp(30%). The dyeing is done on the already joined yarn, which is another innovation.
Cashemp, which is actually a fabric that already exists, but we have improved it by using Italian hemp for the first time and using an innovative, natural cold technique that does not close the lumens of hemp (and therefore does not affect thermoregulation).
HSM: There is also a fabric preview...
OC: Yes, I'm giving you a preview of a fabric that will be coming out very soon, similar to Burro Hemp, but thicker so you can make one of the garments that is never missing from your closets, the sweatshirt. It will be the first sustainable, stretchy sweatshirt suit with a 94% hemp composition, a magical fabric. It will be called Butter Hemp Comfort.
HSM: The Italian textile hemp supply chain is being reborn with your innovations.
HSM: What is your main sales channel?
OC: Our main sales channel is definitely our website internet, created entirely by Alberto, who is a programmer by trade, and who has tried to prune innovation into our website as well. In fact, our website does not use Google Analytics. Considering then that all our products are made to order, knowing the correct size of our customers is the basic requirement, so, for this reason, Alberto has developed, together with our tailors, a size prompter. Finally, images and videos are also produced in-house, so we can reinvest more than 80 percent of our revenues in research & development of innovative materials and related fabric testing in the labs.
HSM: And the main market?
OC: With Covid, our target market has changed significantly. Our first crowdfunding campaign, done in 2018 with Covid, immediately gave us international visibility, and so the markets were very well balanced. During Covid, on the other hand, we had a remarkable growth in the Italian market, and this fact makes us very happy because it means that also in Italy the concept of sustainability in clothing is becoming more and more important.
HSM: What are your plans for the future?
OC: Definitely we are geared toward being innovative, but maintaining tradition and offering a product with a positive environmental impact. In fact, the hemp plant absorbs a huge amount of carbon dioxide and uses less water in cultivation.
An additional aspect is definitely also maximum transparency of the process. In particular, we make a point of showing our customers how many actual labor hours are required in order to create a garment, but also the impact the product has in terms of (in our case negative) CO2 emissions. Even on colors, for example, we try to limit use, offering less color choice, but giving enough to always have the classic colors available, the ones that, to understand us, never go out of fashion. Because a quality fabric, can and, above all, should be worn for several years and should make us feel good.
HSM: Thank you very much Beatrice for this detailed interview. The next time I have a glass of wine, I will also remember hemp! And when I see a garment made of hemp, I will definitely ask myself whether it is a long or short fiber.
Translated with Linguana