plant fibre against the skin
Hemp and banana fibre bring breathable, cellulose-rich plant material close to the body. Their natural texture softens through wear while keeping the cloth light and comfortable.
why hemp
the foundation of everything.
Why hemp and banana fibre are the materials jaivik is built on. On the skin, in the wardrobe, and back to the soil.
on the skin
benefits on the body.
Clothing is the material closest to your skin, all day. It should behave like it belongs there.
naturally antimicrobial
Peer-reviewed testing has shown hemp fibre resists common odour-causing bacteria without chemical treatment. No day-three stench, no fabric softeners masking it.
kinder on sensitive skin
No synthetic finishes, no formaldehyde-based wrinkle treatments, no residual pesticides. Simple fibre, simple chemistry.
breathability & durability
a fabric that works with you.
How hemp actually performs — when you move, sweat, wash, and wear the same piece again.
breathes like skin
Hemp fibres absorb moisture from the body and release it into the air — helping the cloth feel cooler while you move and comfortable as you slow down.
outlasts everything soft
Hemp's tensile strength is around three times that of cotton. It gets softer with every wash instead of thinning out — the fabric is designed to be worn for years, not seasons.
uv-blocking on its own
Hemp naturally blocks a significant portion of UV radiation without additives — a property lab-tested and consistently reported in textile research.
the fibres we choose
a plant, not a polymer.
We speak for what we make: hemp and banana fibre are breathable plant materials, chosen for comfort, long wear and a lighter demand on water.
plant fibres
Hemp is grown for its bast fibre; banana fibre gives agricultural pseudostems a second life. Both are cellulose-rich and biodegradable when kept free of plastic blends.
freshness through airflow
Hemp and banana fibres absorb and move moisture away from the skin. A drier, more breathable fabric can help reduce the damp conditions in which odour develops.
antibacterial potential
Early laboratory studies report antibacterial and antifungal activity in treated banana fibre. Results for untreated hemp fabric are mixed, so we describe this as promising fibre research — not a medical claim.
environmental
a shirt that starts and ends in the soil.
The full environmental case — where the fibre comes from, what it captures while it grows, and what happens when its life with you ends.
starts in the soil
Wild-harvested hemp grows rain-fed on Himalayan hillsides — no irrigation, no pesticide, no synthetic fertiliser. Deep taproots hold the slope and cycle nutrients back into the ground.
captures carbon
Independent research (Stockholm Environment Institute, 2005) estimates hemp captures around 8–15 tonnes of CO₂ per hectare per growing season — one of the highest sequestration rates of any commercial fibre crop.
ends in the soil
A pure hemp garment biodegrades in months once its life with you ends. No microplastic shedding. No landfill century. The loop closes.
water · the honest numbers
three natural fibres — water per t-shirt.
An indicative comparison for one 200 g T-shirt. Hemp is derived from published water-footprint modelling; organic cotton is a broad industry estimate. Banana fibre uses a crop by-product, so its figure covers estimated fibre processing rather than water already used to grow the fruit.
banana-fibre T-shirt
≈ 10 L
processing estimate; crop water is allocated to the fruit
hemp T-shirt
≈ 540 L
derived from ≈2,719 L/kg hemp textile modelling
organic-cotton T-shirt
≈ 2,000 L
indicative industry range begins around 2,000 L
indicative estimates, not like-for-like audited garment data. sources: university of twente hemp water-footprint study (2015); textile exchange organic cotton lca (2014); banana-fibre processing literature. rainfall, region, processing and shirt weight change the result.
how sustainable brands gain their edge in the market by cutting their water footprint — waterfootprint.org →litres saved · per garment
what that means for one suit, one tracksuit.
Per kilo, hemp fibre needs roughly 70–75% less water than conventional cotton. Translated into the garments we actually make, choosing hemp over cotton saves this much water before the piece even reaches you.
two-piece suit
≈ 9,000–11,000 L saved
jacket and trousers, ≈ 1.2–1.5 kg of fabric — hemp instead of conventional cotton.
two-piece tracksuit
≈ 4,500–6,500 L saved
top and bottoms, ≈ 0.6–0.9 kg of fabric — hemp instead of conventional cotton.
Estimates. Based on cultivation-stage water footprint data (cotton ≈ 10,000 L/kg; hemp ≈ 2,700 L/kg, Water Footprint Network and University of Twente, 2015) and typical garment fabric weights. Not a certified life-cycle assessment; dyeing, finishing and washing are not included.
our philosophy
the greenest garment is the one you keep.
fighting fast fashion
The industry now produces over 100 billion garments per year (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). We reject that scale by design — small runs, made to last, sold when they're ready. Every jaivik piece kept in a wardrobe for ten years is a garment that never had to be made ten times over.
quality & longevity
Hemp softens with wear instead of thinning. Our production is designed around garments that outlive a season — reinforced seams, natural finishes, no cheap trims that fail before the fabric does.
continuous improvement
We aren't claiming to be perfect on day one. We're claiming to be honest about where we are. Every year we'll publish what improved, what didn't, and what we're still working on.
research & wellbeing
what we know, and what we don't.
Some claims about natural fibres are settled science. Others are emerging. Others are folklore. We think you deserve to know which is which.
hemp is antimicrobial
Multiple peer-reviewed studies (e.g. Journal of Industrial Hemp, 2008; Textile Research Journal, 2018) confirm hemp fibre inhibits growth of common gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria without chemical treatment.
natural fibres shed less microplastic
Independent testing consistently finds synthetic textiles (polyester, acrylic, nylon) release microfibres in washing; pure natural fibres do not. This is settled science, cited by IUCN and the European Environment Agency.
textiles and skin biome
A growing but still limited body of research (e.g. papers in Frontiers in Microbiology, 2019 onwards) suggests fabric choice can influence the skin's microbial balance. Interesting, not conclusive — we're watching this closely rather than making claims.
fabric “frequencies” and wellbeing
You'll see claims online that natural fibres carry a higher “frequency” than synthetics. The most cited study (Bruyère, 2002) has not been peer-reviewed or independently replicated. We find the idea culturally interesting — hemp has been treated as a sacred fibre in the Himalayas for centuries — but we are not going to sell it to you as science.
general fibre research — not medical advice.
the problem · our solution
the industry as it is, and how we're doing it differently.
Five things we think are broken about mainstream clothing — and the choice we're making instead.
01
fast fashion
the problem
The industry now produces roughly 100+ billion garments per year — more than one for every two people on earth, every year. Most are worn a handful of times and discarded.
our approach
We design one set at a time, made to last for years. If we sell fewer garments and each lasts ten times longer, that is the point.
02
polyester & synthetics
the problem
More than 60% of new clothing is now polyester or synthetic blend. It sheds microplastic in every wash and doesn't biodegrade.
our approach
We work only in pure natural fibre — starting with hemp. No blends, no plastic threads, no synthetic finishes.
03
overproduction
the problem
Traditional brands over-produce by design — margin depends on volume. Unsold stock is landfilled or burned.
our approach
We produce to the tribe: to real people who want a real garment. Small runs, transparent quantities, no phantom stock.
04
lack of transparency
the problem
Most brands cannot name the farm, the mill or the person who sewed a garment. That is by design — it protects the margin.
our approach
Every jaivik piece will be traceable to the valley, the harvester and the tailor whose hands finished it.
05
disposable culture
the problem
Cheap synthetic clothing has trained the industry — and the customer — to treat garments as disposable.
our approach
We're building a wardrobe, not a season. Fewer, better, kept — and eventually returned to the soil.
sources
the receipts.
Every claim above is drawn from public, independent research. Where the science is still emerging or debated, we've said so. If we ever cite a figure we can't back up, tell us and we'll pull it.
- Water footprints of crops (Mekonnen & Hoekstra, 2011)read →
- Ecological Footprint and Water Analysis of Cotton, Hemp and Polyester — Stockholm Environment Institute (2005)read →
- WWF — The Impact of a Cotton T-Shirtread →
- IUCN — Primary Microplastics in the Oceansread →
- European Environment Agency — Microplastics from textilesread →
- Antibacterial properties of hemp fibre — Textile Research Journalread →
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation — A New Textiles Economyread →
- Textile Exchange — Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Reportread →
- Water footprint of industrial hemp — University of Twente (2015)read →
- Banana pseudostem fibre processing and properties — Heliyon (2024)read →
“for our skin, for our tribe, for the people who harvest it.”