Vital Hemptations founded by Rony Alcalay in Santa Monica, California on Earth Day in 2003, Vital Hemptations began with a weekend stand on the Venice boardwalk, selling whatever hemp clothes they could find. Vital now designs and produces their own lines, stock a local store, and wholesale apparel to a growing list of retailers in the United States and Canada.

Hemp Clothing is for everyday living; Vital Hemptations is reintroducing people to the superior qualities of hemp by producing the most comfortable, healthy and sustainable clothes possible. Hemp's come a long way and so has Vital Hemptations.  Founded by Rony Alcalay in Santa Monica, California on Earth Day in 2003, Vital Hemptations began with a weekend stand on the Venice boardwalk, selling whatever hemp clothes they could find. Vital now designs and produces their own lines, stock a local store, and wholesale apparel to a growing list of retailers in the United States and Canada.

As vital members of the sustainable business community, we are a part of the groundswell that changes antiquated laws, re-legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp in the U.S., so that we can all benefit from the myriad uses of this amazing plant—for clothing, food, paper, fuel, and so much more!

Vital Hemptations makes hemp clothing for living every day. They intend to reintroduce people to the superior qualities of hemp by producing the most comfortable, healthy and sustainable clothes possible. Hemp's come a long way and so has Vital Hemptations.

Vital Hemptations envisions a world where people wear comfortable, affordable, high-quality hemp clothing, loving it because it looks and feels so good, and is good for people and the planet too.

By re-introducing the public to the superior qualities of hemp clothing, people will begin to understand the value of the hemp plant as a sustainable source for other commonly used products. Wearing Vital Hemptations and using other hemp products fosters positive attitudes that will result in the re-legalization of the cultivation of industrial hemp in the USA.

The Vital Hemptations Story:

Vision:  We envision a world where people thrive from the energy that they receive from the hemp seed powder they put in their organic morning smoothies; where computer printers, newspapers and magazines everywhere use the tree-free hemp paper; where hemp plastics are the norm, replacing petroleum-based products; where builders use hemp wood instead of wood from trees—not just because it's better for the environment, but because it's stronger and more durable than what we used to use; where cars and other machines run on hemp veggie oil, getting twenty times the power (and much better mileage) than anything that ever ran on corn or sugarcane based ethanol—and keeping the air clean in the process.

Protecting the Environment:  Vital Hemptations grew from a love of the natural world, a world of clean air and oceans, green hillsides, streams with pollywogs and frogs, healthy wildlife populations, and eco-systems that worked together to create the living, breathing planet we call Earth. The world has faced many challenges since we grew up, in the sixties and seventies, and many things have improved. Unfortunately, the environment is not one of them. Rather than just going along, earning a living, seeing this world we love disintegrate because of a human tendency toward short-sightedness and greed, we decided to join the growing ranks of those who choose to do something positive to help the earth, to be spokespeople on behalf of the Earth, our home and mother, who has recently expressed her displeasure too: with hurricanes, earthquakes and floods.

We hope people will understand the connection between what we do (and consume) and the consequences or benefits these activities have for the environment. If we all buy cotton clothes, the pesticides used to grow the cotton (usually now in other countries) blows off, into the lungs of women or children, causing birth defects and illness. If we buy bamboo, the caustic chemicals used to turn the bamboo into soft fabric, gets dumped into streams, poisoning ecosystems and making those streams and rivers too polluted to swim. These are not trivial matters…but we can do something about it.

Our little part is producing hemp clothes. We chose hemp for a few reasons you probably know: it's stronger and more durable than cotton. It breathes better than any other natural fiber. It doesn't require pesticides and is actually good for the soil (unlike cotton, which depletes soil). Farmers love hemp because it makes such a good rotation crop. We chose hemp because it's good for so many things besides clothes, including food, paper, fuel, etc…, and because, like the Earth, hemp doesn't have enough allies.

Hemp used to grow everywhere in this country; it was widely-used. Ever since the corporate world colluded with our government to criminalize the cultivation of industrial hemp, we as a nation have been subject to a decades-long campaign of misinformation. Hemp is not marijuana; it won't get you high. But wearing hemp clothes will raise your spirits!

Why will wearing hemp raise your spirits; because choosing hemp is the most ecological choice?  It is the choice that says, “I'm not going to buy into the propaganda anymore. I'm going to buy what's best for me and for the Earth, and thereby be part of the movement that is working to make industrial hemp legal once again to grow in the USA. Of all the western industrialized nations, the USA is the only one where hemp is illegal to grow. Corporate greed criminalized and marginalized hemp. Populist power and wisdom can bring hemp back to our land.

Vital Hemptations sources their hemp fabric from the Shandong province of China, where the hemp has been grown for more than 6000 years. The Chinese were never short-sighted enough to ban such a useful plant. While Canada also grows tons of hemp, the Canadians use it mostly for food, and have not developed a hemp textile industry. China produces more than 95% of all hemp textiles in the world, mostly in smaller farms and factories; fortunately, we have found outstanding and consistent quality.

While we would rather grow, mill and spin our hemp fabric here in the USA, our government will not yet allow us to do so. Although we must for now source our hemp overseas, we work increasingly closely with our hemp suppliers to insure that the process of producing our clothing is good for the earth, from the planting through the dying and packaging.

Our commitment is to continually strive to lessen our environmental impact on the planet as we provide the most earth-friendly clothing possible, “hemping” you as we hemp the planet.

Responsibility on this planet:  Vital Hemptations began with an environmental impulse: we wanted to help the earth through hemp. At the same time, we understand that helping the earth also includes helping the lives of human beings. We cannot in good conscience make environmentally-friendly goods in conditions that are unfriendly or unjust. Therefore, we commit our energies and resources to making sure our clothes are produced ethically, in safe conditions that pay fair wages and respect workers' rights.

Vital Hemptations hemp clothes are now produced domestically in Southern California.  For eight years they manufactured in China, because that's where they had contacts and knew people who knew hemp clothing well.  They did their best to make the Chinese option work, paying for independent social compliance, and putting up with intermittent production disasters (sleeves fit for giants, bodies fit for elves, garments that shrank or lost buttons within minutes, etc…).  Ultimately, they moved the manufacturing home, and they are glad they did!

We now make our garments with local people in Los Angeles and neighboring cities.

The quest to find the right people with whom to work in Los Angeles led us to some incredible places, leaving indelible impressions of an industry that encompasses supremely efficient, sunny, familial sew shops and more obscure, grimmer places, where people cared less. Thankfully, we found homes with people we love, who make the time to make our clothing right.  From our cutters who've been in the business thirty years to our sewers with twenty-five, we've built a professional team with skilled, compassionate people leading every operation.  The shops respect their employees, in many cases love them as literal husbands, sisters, sons and daughters, or as figural family, the family we choose.

These shops undergo and pass all the rigorous inspections that are now the norm in our domestic garment industry.  They pay fairly, and keep the shops tip-top.  Our customers may pay a few dollars more for our shirts now, but we're confident they were made in factories that respect workers, give them breaks, pay them on time, etc… and where the buttons and buttonholes are well-sewn, the sleeves fit for human beings--garments you can count on and wear for years.  We think that's a bargain!

About Vital Hemptations:  Vital Hemptations makes hemp clothing for living every day. We intend to reintroduce people to the superior qualities of hemp by producing the most comfortable, healthy and sustainable clothes possible. Hemp's come a long way and so has Vital Hemptations.

We envision a world where people wear soft hemp clothes for years, wearing them in until they're softer than any cotton that wears out in months. Where babies wear hemp diapers because they're anti-bacterial and anti-fungal; where kids play in hemp jeans, and where we all sleep in the most comfy hemp sheets, dreaming of the clean oceans we'll swim in the next day, surfing in the clean air, with real blue skies, sailing with the happy dolphins and whales and feeling healthy and at peace because the world is healthy and at peace. And yes, this is possible, and we can provide for all; and no, this was not written under the influence of hemp's cousin.  They design versatile clothes that work in a wide range of circumstances, from casual to elegant. Fortunately, hemp lets your skin cells breathe, so if you're at work and need to run (literally), like to catch the next solar-powered monorail we're dreaming up, you'll still arrive at your meeting fresh, rather than sticky or damp.

Hemp is the original linen. The definition of linen used to be: "A material made from hemp, flax, or other natural fibers." When the US government made hemp illegal in the 1930's, the linen lobby petitioned to change the definition of linen to omit the word hemp. It became: "A material made from flax or other natural fibers." We still offer 100% hemp linen, which is stronger, and resists wrinkles more than flax or cotton linen. Plus, you can machine wash and dry.

Hemp mixes well with other fibers, including cotton and silk. At Vital Hemptations, we recognize that we have entered an age of global warming. In this age, we believe in making not just incremental shifts, but paradigm shifts to counteract the decades of havoc we've inflicted on the environment, contributing to global warming. Unlike cotton (even organic cotton) which is both water-intensive crops, hemp requires relatively little water. Blending hemp with an ecologically-friendly, recycled beech wood pulp fiber (Tencel) produces garments that have the strength and durability of hemp, combined with the softness of cotton. Plus these knits have a great drape; are machine wash and dryable, and come out of the dryer looking great.

For colors that delight and remain stable (not running in the wash), Vital Hemptations uses only low-impact, fiber-reactive dyes.

Every style is pre-washed and pre-shrunk.