The life of a well-known textile expert puts Hemp in the News with his knowledge and contribution to the organic and ecologically sustainable textile industry.
Guy Carpenter, founder and owner of Cape Fear Apparel, decided early on that he didn’t want to follow in his fathers footsteps by working in the textile industry. Instead, he pursued political science at college, taught English in the Peace Corps for two-and-a-half years, spent some time in the Army, and then went to graduate school.
Despite his efforts to explore different directions, life steered him back to the textile industry where he has become a well-known fibre expert. His work included business management for clothing companies as well as helping farmers in developing nations establish successful organic cotton farms.
He first got involved with organic cotton in the 1990s when Nike approached him and asked if he could make an organic cotton t-shirt. During this burgeoning time of the organic cotton industry, Carpenter became interested in hemp textiles. But he quickly realised that, while more and more farmers were growing and processing organic cotton, there were no hemp farmers or manufacturers in the U.S. At that time, China was the only place where hemp was being grown for use in fabric.
Carpenter partnered up with a hemp manufacturer in China and, over the course of five years, produced clothing and garments for many popular brands, such as Nike, Lululemon, Hudson’s Bay Company, and Macy’s.
Eventually he moved from manufacturing to sales, and then on to consulting, with his area of expertise being in organic and sustainable fibres and fabrics.
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