Hemp: there is nothing to invent, only something not to forget
Renewing the memory of hemp by wearing it – a mosaic of Italian companies across four regions, from a jeans manufacturer in Molise to an atelier in Egna
The Bad Seeds Company: reviving hemp through Italian manufacturing
An activity that evokes black-and-white photographs, dusty trunks and historical memories. A husband and wife moving between Italy and Germany decided to enhance the value of a plant they did not know, believing in it and investing in Made in Italy expertise. In 2015, Barbara Trenti and Andreas Geier left their creative lifestyle café in Laives, Bolzano – a venue with a tailoring workshop and live music at weekends – and moved to Hamburg with their two children. «We were only supposed to stay for a year for work, then we stayed for three years and in 2016 we founded The Bad Seeds Company», explains Barbara Trenti, a biologist and former teacher. «We want a centuries-old success story not to be forgotten».
Barbara Trenti and Andreas Geier: textiles in South Tyrol
The relationship with textiles and fabric recycling is a family matter, mostly connected to wool. In South Tyrol, an estimated one hundred tonnes of wool are thrown away every year. «At the tailoring workshop in Laives we upcycled wool, but we knew nothing about hemp or its potential». The discovery came through a series of circumstances linking the Ultimo Valley and a hemp plantation. «When we saw a hemp field for the first time, we realized how beautiful this plant is and how many possibilities it offers. We also wanted to move away from wool because sheep are treated very badly in our area – they are raised for meat and the wool is then burned. We were looking for a plant-based alternative». Hemp can produce up to two hundred and fifty percent more fiber than cotton and six hundred percent more fiber than flax using the same amount of land.
The Bad Seeds Company
Hemp was discovered in Italy, but the project – producing garments in hemp fabric – took shape in Hamburg, Germany. «Growing hemp was not yet legal and it was difficult to find the material». Through a German wholesaler, they managed to source hemp denim. The raw material is harvested and the raw fiber processed in Eastern Europe, specifically in Odessa and Romania. «My goal has always been to source European fibers but use Italian labor», which is why all the hemp denim purchased by The Bad Seeds Company – around four hundred meters a year – is sent to the South Tyrolean project’s partner companies for processing. «It is a rigid fabric that is difficult to sew and forced us to run several tests – no elastane has been added, ed. – and only with each wash and through wear does the fabric become increasingly soft».
The mosaic of expertise surrounding The Bad Seeds Company, which returned to Italy in 2018 and settled in Egna – Neumarkt in German – in the province of Bolzano, is made up of several pieces. In South Tyrol, the tailoring atelier is run by Barbara Trenti – responsible for production and material research – and her daughter Sofia, who turned a passion into a daily job after learning how to work with materials such as hemp, linen and nettle. Alongside them are Andreas Geier, the company’s B2B manager, and Katrin Taylor Voss, responsible for sales and marketing. In Egna, inside a shop created in an old stable later converted into a carpentry workshop, they make one-off and made-to-measure pieces, design new models and study new combinations using recycled fabrics. «We made nettle shirts and a hemp coat by recovering hand-worked fabric from a hundred-year-old trousseau; it is still beautiful», Trenti says.
The Bad Seeds Company – the jeans manufacturer in Molise
The jeans manufacturer responsible for making the hemp denim garments is based in Molise. «We looked for a company that could meet our needs and found Target Service Jeans – a third-party manufacturer of couture, casual and sportswear denim based in Pettoranello del Molise, in the province of Isernia, ed. They worked for major Italian fashion brands until those companies moved production abroad, then reinvented themselves by collaborating with smaller Italian businesses. The denim purchased from the German wholesaler arrives in Molise, where it is processed, cut and washed», Barbara Trenti explains. «The company uses conventional denim dyeing, but has installed a water purification and recycling system inside its plant».
The Bad Seeds Company – from denim to knitwear in Prato
In Prato, a company transforms cotton denim into knitwear for The Bad Seeds Company’s second clothing line, 2nd Life. The mechanical transformation takes place at Pinori Filati, a company that has been combining different recycled materials for more than ten years and gives used denim a new life by following the ZDHC – Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals – protocol and complying with the Higg Index, a system for measuring environmental practices throughout the supply chain. After metal parts such as zippers and buttons are removed, the jeans are reduced to fibers; this fibrous mass is then baled and sent for spinning. Process traceability is certified by the RCS – Recycled Claim Standard – which verifies the composition of recycled material in the finished product.
The Bad Seeds Company – recycled cotton reaches Puglia
Once re-spun, the recycled cotton reaches Puglia, specifically Galatone, in the province of Lecce, where the knitwear company Barbara Trenti has worked with for more than eight years is based. «We personally know everyone who works on our garments. When we first brought them the material, they did not know it and had to run tests; now they also have the processing of a new yarn in their portfolio. The distinctive quality of knitwear made from old jeans can also be seen in the dyeing result, which is often uneven – given the varying composition of jeans, which are not always made only of cotton – and this creates a unique distinguishing feature».
Although production costs are high and require cooperation among several parties scattered across Italy, The Bad Seeds Company sees this not as a problem but as added value. «We should now be up to date and provide evidence of the energy and water savings achieved in the production supply chain. We do not yet have certifications in this respect because we have focused on the origin and processing of raw materials», the founder explains. «For stitching we use cotton thread, the labels are made of cardboard or cotton, while for online shipments we use recycled boxes». There is in fact one certification: PETA, the American organization supporting animal rights – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The Bad Seeds Company garments are entirely vegan and plant-based: «They contacted us when we were still in Hamburg; it was a wonderful surprise».
In 2020, The Bad Seeds Company experimented with cultivating around eighty hectares of hemp in the Padua area – in South Tyrol this is not possible because much of the land is devoted to apples and the mountainous terrain requires specific agricultural care. The upper part of the plant was harvested, while the stalks were shredded and set aside for biomass. «There is no light inside a hemp field», Trenti says. «Put like that it sounds sad, but it is actually positive because the plant grows so densely that weeds have no chance to develop». For this reason, the crop does not require herbicides or pesticides.
The philosophy behind The Bad Seeds Company
While the philosophy behind The Bad Seeds Company describes a sustainable brand tied to durable fashion and guided by ethical principles, its name points to something negative, something ‘bad’. «Hemp seeds are a little bad because of the prejudice associated with the plant. When I was teaching, I remember that anyone wearing a T-shirt with a hemp leaf on it could not even enter the classroom. When we had to choose a name for our company, I remember people asking me why not ‘good seeds’, given the plant’s benefits. I think that if you are willing to wear jeans with a hemp leaf printed on the label, you probably like being ‘bad’. And Germans are a little bit like pirates», Barbara Trenti continues. «And then we are musicians: the choice of name also refers to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, whom we love».
Barbara Trenti e Andreas Geier
«The freedom to conduct our business as we see fit comes at a high price and at the same time is of inestimable value to us. That is why we love what we do and how we do it», direct exchange with customers and with other parties interested in cooperating in the development and enhancement of hemp is one of The Bad Seeds Company’s main objectives. «In German there is a saying that expresses what should also be done with hemp: ‘We all cook with water’. We need to build networks and be honest, idealistic and also a little bad in persevering – a little ‘bad’, precisely».
Mariavittoria Zaglio
