How the best Hemp jacket is done

The “La Canapa” Hemp Jacket, named “Il Giacchetto” in Italian, is the latest innovation in natural fabric industry. Its thermo-regulating, durable and soft fabric makes it probably the most versatile sustainable jacket ever produced.

Started to design in October 2016, it was produced in its first samples in August 2017. A second, slightly improved version was released in July 2018.

It is made of the finest Hemp in the world, we called “La Canapa” (“Hemp, in Italian”), sourced from premium European Plants, precisely grown in France.

Opera Campi follows the whole process, from the selection of the raw materials, to the spinning and weaving of the fabric, washing, treatments, and manufacture of the final product. The fabric is so customised to the Opera Campi quality standards that we even gave it a name: “La Canapa”, and we made a beautiful page on our website.

A complete control means an easy traceability on the supply chain: the plants are French, the yarns and fabric are made in Milan and Bergamo, the manufacture is made in Parma, always in Italy.

The Design

Everything starts from the idea. We are not designers nor stylists. We are just ideators.

The first idea comes from Inspiration and from the chaos of our mind. It could come during the night, at the sunrise, under the shower, or even just looking at the competitors. The mixture of all the inspirations compose the final idea, which is then presented to our pattern-maker and historical collaborator: Luciana Dal Zio.

Luciana takes care of the model following our strict instructions. Any centimeter and detail of the jacket is studied depending on the style we have to reach. We have always kept in mind our final result.

The Hemp Jacket must be perfect as versatile mid-season jacket, apparently minimal but with functional details.

To keep it more minimal we didn’t add the front pockets in the chest, which would becommon on a jacket like this, but we inserted the liftable collar, the hand pockets, the aesthetic band in the back. The Hemp Jacket must look unique, the special custom Hemp produced for it makes most of the features of the garment.

It should look beautiful both on suits and on casual outfits. It must be super comfy, and it must be so versatile. That’s why we didn’t put a cotton or silk lining inside, because it would have decreased the breathability granted by Hemp. We put an open sleeve end because we want people to keep it even rolled.

It has also to be classic, regular. We didn’t put anything which is too hi-tech, the fabric is already “hi-tech” in a certain sense. We didn’t put double swing shoulders in order to make it elastic because the jacket is already comfy and large itself.

These were only some design aspects we kept in mind while designing it.

The Fabric “La Canapa”

The Fabric is the main secret behind the jacket.

It’s made of pure 100% European Hemp, sourced from France, woven in Italy, treated and washed in Italy. It’s the result of 6 world-class suppliers in the textile industry.

It all started from some ancient clothes of raw hemp, used to be bed linens in between 1920 and 1950. They were surprisingly soft and different from today’s common Chinese Hemp. Our goal was to replicate that softness, and maybe improve it.

After months of research and tries, we could make a Hemp which differs from other common Hemp fabrics:

• doesn’t wrinkle as much as other hemp fabrics
• it’s softer at the touch than any other Hemp
• thanks to the expensive yarn by yarn dyeing, its color is so resistant and durable

As said before, we work closely with our suppliers from France, Busto Arsizio (Milan), Bergamo and Parma in order to create something excellent, unparalleled. The final result is nothing close to cotton, flax or other natural fabrics, it’s something totally better.

The result is something truly different which looks both classic but with modern and advanced properties.

Comparing to strong synthetic fabric like Nylon, Goretex or Cordura, “La Canapa” is natural and can guarantee up to 95% of the tensile strength of synthetic strong fabrics.

Also, don’t forget other main scientific advantages of a common hemp fabric:

• It’s a world-saver since hemp requires no pesticides and less water than any other plantation for the textile industry
• On average, 1 ton of hemp grown absorbs 108 times the CO2 absorbed by three medium-sized trees, in one year! As you may know, CO2 is the main responsible of global warming.
• Hemp makes the ground richer and removes polluting by enriching it of nitrogen
• Hemp easily absorbs and disperses humidity of the body, making it very humidity-proof
• Hemp is highly protective as it filters 95% of Ultraviolet rays

The dyeing

A very important, expensive step of “La Canapa” stays in its dyeing. We are among the few ones in the world that make yarn-dyeing. It means each yarn is dyed singularly. This is fundamental to make a different looking garment:

• it guarantees an unparalleled color durability
• it guarantees an unparalleled color vibrancy and homogeneity

The Manufacture

Both producing the fabric and crafting the product is something rare in the clothing industry. Like a hi-tech company works well when creating all the components for its products, the same is for a fashion brand.

The Giacchetto is made by an expert laboratory close to Parma, in Italy. The laboratory is responsible for all the production of Opera Campi’s products, knows the product and the fabric very well. This is extremely important in order to guarantee the same, exact quality on each final piece. In fact, there are always some details that must be followed when working with the Jacket.

Any seam must be strong, very strong, but without sacrificing the neatness of the garment. That’s why we used a special yarn to sew the jacket, very robust and of the same color of the jacket.

Another secret stays behind the buttons. Precisely engraved with laser, and applied through a soft leather support. This gives the button an infinite resistance and an aesthetic finesse.

It’s hard to say whether the Giacchetto is the most versatile and best hemp jacket ever produced. But it’s easy to say it’s doubtless something appearing rudimental, elegant, traditional and performant garment at the same time.

Feedbacks

Here are some of the best feedbacks we actually collected from our customers.

• Ezra from Canada: The jacket is phenomenal. It fits perfectly and the colour is gorgeous. I love it! Bravo to you and the team on this exceptional garment.
• Jan from Tuscany: I am now a happy owner of your Timeless Hemp Jacket which I expect will keep me fine for many years to come.
• Beth from Texas: I’ve just received mine, it’s phenomenal!
• Ralph from Germany: the difference is amazing.
• Samuel from Germany: Absolutely love the jacket. Thank you so much!
• Michael from Germany: Beautiful jacket and sweater! I’ve been wearing the jacket regularly: lots of comments already.
• Ian from France: had no idea that they were so rare!!!

And many other feedbacks will be published soon on a dedicated website page of operacampi.com